Old Stories
by Amelie Nockturne
Summary: Collection of PJO oneshots and unfinished stories. They are really bad but I don't have the heart to delete them. Contains my take on the Mark of Athena, as well as an unfinished Harry Potter crossover and an unfinished Kane Chronicles crossover. So sorry to those on my author alert list who get alerts for these!
1. The Mark of Athena

**_I am SO SO sorry to everyone who has me on Author Alert and received a bunch of random emails about this story! I really don't want any reviews or alerts. Again, sorry!_**

**This is the first part of my first story. It's my version of the Mark of Athena. However, I read the first chapter of the real MoA and totally lost my inspiration. It's unfinished, sorry.**

****Line breaks indicate the next chapter****

**Annabeth:**

Annabeth was sick of flying. Being stuck thousands of feet in the air, pacing the main deck of the Argo II for hours on end, and desperately trying to avoid Leo was enough to drive any demigod crazy. As the ship's so-called "Supreme Commander", Leo found immense pleasure in giving minute-by-minute updates on the ship's whereabouts, and just as much (if not more) pleasure in the groans that escaped everyone as he shouted out another command. Their only break from Leo's constant "captainship" had been when he had sent the message to the Romans, promising not to hurt them and the like. Sadly, that had ended far to soon and Leo had resumed his position.

" This is your Supreme Commander Leo Valdez speaking. According to our head navigator Jason, we should be landing in about 10 minutes. Please put all tray tables up and set your seats to the upright position. Thank you for flying Argo Airlines! "

"Leo, shut up! Just concentrate on getting the ship down safely. I don't think the mortals would be very happy if we crashed a 2-ton, celestial bronze-clad Greek Trimere into their backyards," Piper said, duly noting that Leo's entire body was now flaming from excitement.

"Uh, Leo… you're doing it again." Jason had turned around from his position at the prow, where he constantly peered down at the California landscape, looking for even the slightest clue that would lead the Argo ll and its passengers safely to Camp Jupiter. Leo sighed, obviously accustomed to the procedure, and set the ship on autopilot as he reluctantly stepped down from the steering wheel. He trudged over to a shower-head bolted to the Argo ll's back wall, yanked the attached pull-chain, and was promptly doused in water from head to toe, extinguishing his flames.

"I will never be able to express how glad I am your Hephaestus siblings installed that," Piper stifled a laugh as Leo made a vain attempt to dry himself off. Leo grumbled about excitement and ADHD, but he begrudgingly returned to his spot behind the wheel and tried to act as if nothing had happened.

"You need to learn to control that fire. It doesn't matter how excited you get," Annabeth remarked. But she could barely contain her own emotion. After almost eight months, she was finally going to see him again. Percy. She'd missed him for so long. She closed her eyes and imagined the ship touching down in Camp. Time would stop as Annabeth ran towards him and kissed him and never let him go. And Percy would remember her, and kiss her back, and everything would be just as it should. But black tendrils of fear took over. What if he'd found a new girlfriend? What if he didn't remember her? What if, gods forbid, he hadn't come back from that stupid quest he went on when Annabeth had _specifically told him to stay put. _He never listened, but that was just one of the things she loved most about him- not that she'd ever let him know that.

"Leo! That's it! Right there! Starboard- now!" Jason interrupted Annabeth's fantasy, pointing at a spot on the ground below and yelling frantically. Annabeth couldn't blame him for being so spastic. Had she been in his place, she wouldn't know whether to feel excited or scared, or a terrible mixture of both, about seeing her home again. The boat lurched as Leo spun the wheel, laughing as if tipping a flying ship was the most fun he'd ever had.

"Your other starboard you idiot! What kind of Supreme Commander doesn't know left and right? Now we have to turn around!" Piper exclaimed.

"Are U-turns allowed in the air?" Annabeth heard Jason mutter, more to himself than anyone else. The boat leaned again, and Annabeth began to feel the Argo ll descending.

"Okay, see that Tunnel right over there? Yeah, go straight past it. You'll see a river- that's the Little Tiber. There it is. Cool, so just cruise slowly past the river. Piper, the truce flag is out, right?" Jason automatically took charge, giving Leo more directions as Piper hoisted a giant white flag above the head of Festus, the dragonhead attached to the front of the boat. Leo eased the ship past the giant river- the Little Tiber wasn't so little- and the ship passed through the Mist that concealed Camp Jupiter from nosy mortals.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and Piper, welcome to Camp Jupiter," Leo said in his Captain voice. Piper seemed too stunned by her surroundings to even react to Leo's insult, and Annabeth felt the same way. They were in an exact replica, if a little smaller, of the original Rome. There was a military base camp, a Coliseum, temples to all the Roman gods and goddesses, and a small city where demigods strolled in the summer afternoon sun- all of which were constructed with some of the most fantastic architecture Annabeth had ever seen.

"Home," Jason breathed. He seemed about ready to jump right off the ship so he could reunite with his old friends, but he snapped out of it and continued to direct Leo. "Leo, see that field? That's the field of Mars. You can see the big group of Romans gathering. Land over there."

"Okaaaay… flying I can do, landing… maybe not so much. Brace for Impact everyone!" Leo shouted, uneasy for the first time. His hands began to smoke again as he clenched the steering wheel. Everyone else held on for their lives to the ship's railings. Finally, the ship hit the ground with minimal damage, except for the deep trench cut in the field. With a sigh of relief, Leo pressed a button, and the gangplank was released. Jason stepped out first, but Annabeth quickly brushed past him. All her thoughts were on Percy. She searched the faces of what seemed like thousands of demigods, looking for the long black hair and sea green eyes she knew so well, the mouth she had kissed so many times. But she couldn't find him in the midst of strange faces. Piper came up behind her and put her hand on Annabeth's shoulder.

"Don't worry. He's here. I'm sure of it," Piper's words were calming, but they meant nothing if Annabeth couldn't see Percy's face. As she silently fought back tears, two figures in purple cloaks and slightly stupid-looking togas fought through the crowd. There was a somehow-familiar-looking girl in the front: she had long, black-brown hair and dark eyes that perfectly accented her olive skin. Jason looked like he had been electrocuted (and for a son of Jupiter who was normally immune to lightning, that was big).

"Reyna." Jason stepped forward as if in a trance. The girl looked up at him, silent tears, happy tears, streaming down her face. There was a tall, tanned guy behind her, brushing his jet-black hair out of his face and looking frantically over Reyna's shoulder, as if searching for someone. Annabeth looked up and gasped. Sea green eyes met stormy gray, and the world stopped.

**Percy:**

Percy figured he could still keep his composure when he saw Annabeth again. He was wrong. The giant celestial bronze ship set down on the field, and a the ship's gangplank helped the passengers down into the mob of Romans. Reyna and Percy made their way through the crowd, Percy desperately trying not to trip over his toga. They came to the front just as a muscular guy with electric blue eyes and blonde hair stepped off the ship. He looked somewhat familiar to Percy, especially those eyes. He looked directly at Reyna.

"Jason," Percy heard Reyna breathe; she sounded like she might even be crying. Percy realized that this was the famous Jason, the hero everyone thought was missing. But where was Annabeth? Percy looked out behind Reyna's shoulder, desperately trying to find Annabeth. He'd been waiting for this for so long. She had to be there; she had to.

"Reyna-" Jason was cut short by a girl brushing past him. She was tall, with curly blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and fierce eyes. She looked like she was trying not to cry.

Another girl, this one with dark hair in braids, came down and put her hand on the blonde girl's shoulder. Percy gasped. She was even more gorgeous than he'd remembered. Annabeth looked up. Their eyes met. She ran down towards him and latched onto him. He kissed her and was vaguely aware of the other demigods watching them, the rest of the Greeks getting off the ship. But nothing else mattered except Annabeth in front of him, her face and lips that he'd kissed a lifetime ago. They finally broke apart.

"Hey," Percy said, at a total loss for words.

"Hey? I haven't seen you in months, Seaweed brain, I thought you were dead, and all you can say is HEY!" Annabeth was trying to be angry, but even Percy- the most clueless guy in the entire world when it came to girls- could tell she didn't really mean it. "So, while we were all worrying our heads off about you… did what, exactly?"

"Yeah, about that… I kinda got lost. Made some friends, though. Let me introduce you all." Percy's world had finally been pieced back together. Everything was perfect. Reyna stepped forward out of the mob of Romans.

"Demigods of Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood! I speak for all the Romans as I personally welcome the Greeks to our camp. There will be no military duties for the rest of the day as we get to know our Greek… friends. But let me send out a warning to both Greeks and Romans. In order to defeat Gaea, we need to work together. There will be no fighting, pranking, or otherwise argument between Romans and Greeks whatsoever. Am I making myself clear?" Both Romans and Greeks nodded in unison.

"Good," said Reyna. "Now, let's get to know each other."

* * *

**Hazel:**

Hazel was in complete shock, and for a girl whose mother had been possessed by Gaea, who had died and come back to life, and who had seen Percy eat two entire pizzas in one sitting and ask for dessert, that was saying something. Sammy Valdez was standing in front of her, like he'd been magically transported through time along with her. Hazel knew deep down that this guy's name was Leo, that he wasn't Sammy, but her heart wanted so much for this boy with the curly hair and wild eyes to be Sammy that she forced reality away. She longed for just one piece of her old life back, before Gaea had ripped it apart, but she knew that times had changed. At Reyna's instruction, all the Greeks (and Jason) stepped forward. Percy seemed reluctant to leave his girlfriend's side for even a second, but he resumed his place next to Reyna. Annabeth (that was her name, right?) nudged Jason's side, indicating that he should start. He stepped forward.

"Um, I'm Jason Grace, son of Jupiter. Lots of you guys already know me, but Juno/Hera switched me and Percy for the past few months. But I guess we'll explain that later…" Jason stepped back in line with the rest of the Greeks. Hazel was glad to have him back; she'd missed his optimism, and Reyna's mood was definitely going to improve now that he had returned. Octavian was sure to flip out, though… where was that rat of a demigod, anyway? Hazel shook the thought away as Percy's girlfriend started to speak.

"I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. I guess that would be Minerva for you," Annabeth looked to Jason for confirmation and he nodded. Leo took command next.

"Leo Valdez-" Hazel inhaled sharply, but no one besides Frank seemed to notice. Frank mouthed to her 'that's him?' Hazel nodded; Frank looked troubled. "-son of Hephaestus, or that Star Trek Guy in Roman terms. Spock? No… um, Vulcan! That's it!" So I'm the Supreme Commander of the Argo ll, and… yeah. Your turn, Beauty Queen." Leo gestured to the final girl standing next to him. To Hazel, it looked like Leo's hair was smoking, but it must have been coming from the ship behind him. Another girl stepped up. She was pretty with choppy brown hair in braids and kaleidoscope eyes.

"I'm Piper," Piper seemed reluctant to say her last name. "Piper McLean. I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, or Venus." There was murmuring about someone named McLean and some kind of movie. Hazel was too focused on Leo to really care. Reyna stepped forward again.

"Thank you. I guess we should introduce ourselves now too. I am Reyna, daughter of Bellona and one of the praetors of the Twelfth Leigon. I believe Bellona doesn't really have a Greek name…" Percy stepped forward as Reyna finished.

"Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon… Neptune, whatever. Like Jason said, I switched places with him for awhile. I am the, um former praetor of the Twelfth Legion." Everyone looked at him, shocked. "Jason was the praetor before he disappeared, and I'd like to give it back to him. On one condition." Jason looked incredibly happy as he asked what the condition was. "You resume praetor, I get back Camp Half-Blood leadership. Deal?"

"Deal," Jason smiled. He and Percy switched places, and Percy handed Jason his purple praetor's cape. Reyna seemed all too happy to have Jason back at her side.

"These are some of my friends I've met," Percy said, gesturing to each of them in turn. "Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto; Frank Zhang, son of Mars; Dakota, son of Bacchus…" He went on, gesturing to a few more demigods. Once all the introductions were completed, everyone was about to adjourn for dinner when none other than Octavian burst through the Romans. Hazel cursed under her breath. Octavian ruining the already shaky peace between the two groups was just what they needed. Octavian was panting, as if running from his barrack to the Field of Mars had caused him such great effort. Reyna glared at him, and Hazel saw Percy whisper something to Annabeth. From what she could tell, Percy had said, "That guy's a total jerk. He wants nothing but power." Annabeth had responded, "But he looks just like..." "I know," Percy calmed her. "Just pretend like you don't notice." Octavian began to speak.

"Graechus! Graechus! The omens- I have never seen such horror! Beware of Greeks with dirty tricks! I knew from the beginning they weren't to be trusted!" Octavian seemed to want to continue, but Reyna cut short his overly-dramatic rant.

"Octavian, they've done nothing to prove themselves wrong," she said sternly, giving Octavian another glare. Reyna then addressed the Greeks. "This is Octavian, the camp Augur." When the rest of the Greeks looked confused, Jason had to clarify:

"Octavian is Rome's version of the Oracle. He reads prophecies through ripped up, um, stuffed animal guts." The Greeks obviously looked like they were trying hard not to laugh, but Percy silenced them.

"Okay, everyone to dinner. Tonight we will assign the Greeks to their cohorts, and we will have a meeting to discuss this prophecy." Reyna commanded. Everyone left for the dining pavilion. Percy and Annabeth were trying to catch up on eight months of each other's lives, and Reyna and Jason were talking with Piper trailing behind- come to think of it, Piper looked a little upset, staring at Reyna and Jason. Hazel would have to ask her about it later. Sammy- no, _Leo,_ was de-assembling the ship, handling the equipment with ease. Hazel started to make off to go eat, but Frank pulled her back.

"Hazel, that's Sammy? Your friend from your old, uh, other life?" Frank looked really concerned, like he wanted nothing more than to make Hazel happy. Now Hazel was even more confused. She hadn't exactly said that Sammy was her old boyfriend yet, and now she had no idea what she was going to do.

"Yes, that's him. Or, at least someone who looks exactly like him. Come on, let's go eat. I don't really want to talk about this." Hazel started off without seeing if Frank would follow. Mean, she knew, but at this point, she was too absorbed in her own thoughts to even care.

* * *

**Jason:**

Jason's life was finally back to normal- well, almost normal. Dinner had been excellent as always. Jason had missed being able to sit with whoever he wanted; eating by himself at Camp Half-Blood had been hard. He was also Praetor again, which he still couldn't believe. How could Percy have given that up so easily?

But Jason wasn't about to argue. He'd also noticed that they'd recovered the eagle. Seeing it tower on its pedestal above the demigods made Jason's heart swell with Roman pride. When he asked Hazel about it, she just said, "Percy." Percy saved Camp Half-Blood, was helping to save Camp Jupiter, and recovered the Twelfth Legion's eagle? That guy really was good.

After dinner, the Greeks were assigned to cohorts. He and Percy were obviously still in the fifth, Piper went to the fourth, Leo to the third, and Annabeth to the second. None of the Romans seemed very willing to stand for the Greeks, but they were declared "special guests" like Nico, that son of Pluto from all those months ago. Reyna dismissed everyone for evening activities except for the Greeks, Hazel, Frank, and Percy (did Percy qualify as a Greek? Then again, did Jason still qualify as a Roman? They were a mixture of both groups). Jason was sorry for missing out on what looked to be a riveting game of death-ball vs. the Lares.

Leo was the first to notice the Lares. It took a while for Jason, Percy, and Reyna to explain, and all the Greeks seemed as wary of them as the Lares were of the Graechus. Reyna started by giving the demigods a tour of camp, and once they'd fulfilled Terminus's OCD demands- Jason sure must have been homesick, because he was even glad to see Terminus again- they sat in the living room of Reyna's Praetor house. Percy started out by saying what everyone was thinking.

"So we know that the New Great Prophecy- the Prophecy of Seven to the Romans- is coming true, and it's happening this summer. I think we also know that Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, Frank, and me make up six of the seven demigods. So the question is, who's the seventh?"

"Percy, slow down. I think we need to make a plan for the present and then when the seventh demigod is revealed, he or she can join us," Annabeth replied.

"But who's saying that the seventh demigod isn't you or Reyna?" Piper asked.

"That's a good point. I suppose we'll have to wait to find out," Reyna replied.

"Or we could always ask that scarecrow Octavian. He could rip off the head of my teddy bear and say who the seventh demigod is," snickered Leo.

"Leo, that guy is a force to be reckoned with. He may look puny, but he has a lot of the power in this camp," Percy cut him off.

"Why don't we assume for now that both of you could very well be the seventh demigod? You both can be included in all the planning so everyone knows what's going on," Hazel remarked, putting the demigods back on topic.

"I'm for that. Any opposed?" Annabeth asked. When no one raised their hands, she proceeded. "I'd like to hear what happened to Percy while we had Jason, and I think you'd like to hear our side." Annabeth looked at Reyna, who nodded.

"Okay, Jason, you start." Jason talked about waking up on the bus with Piper and Leo, and defeating the venti at the Grand Canyon. He didn't really mention that Leo had fire power or that Piper was his girlfriend... Jason still had no idea what he was going to do about that. He also didn't really mention Piper's charm-speaking ability, or meeting his sister Thalia. He continued, explaining how he met Annabeth and traveled to Camp Half-Blood. Then he started on the quest, and Jason ended his story with Leo building the Argo ll. Piper, Leo, and Annabeth added a few comments, but Jason did a pretty good job of explaining. Reyna looked satisfied, and nodded to Percy so he could start, but Percy looked a little confused.

"You said your name was Grace, right? Jason Grace. That's so weird..." Percy looked at Annabeth, who looked to Jason, who nodded. Percy obviously knew Thalia, so Jason was okay talking about her.

"Oh yeah, Thalia is kinda my long-lost older sister, but she's a daughter of Zeus. We have the same mother though. Thalia thought I was dead for a long time."

"That explains why she never talked about you. Okay, I guess I'll tell my story. So it all started when I woke up and was almost eaten by a wolf..." Percy started, eager to move on in the story.

**Percy:**

Percy told everything that had happened to him since he woke up in the Wolf House, with a few interjections by Frank and Hazel and some questions asked by the rest of the group. He left out a few things, such as Hazel's story and Frank's stick, and Percy decided not to mention Ella the harpy until later.

"Wait. Frank, you can shape-shift? That's awesome!" Leo exclaimed. Jason had to get him to cool down so he wouldn't set Reyna's house on fire. "Can we see?" Frank looked a little uneasy.

"I'm not always so good at it..." Leo used his best pleading eyes, and Frank sighed. "Okay, I guess." Frank shut his eyes and looked like he was concentrating really hard. Percy was afraid it wouldn't work and Frank would be all embarrassed, but sure enough, Frank started to transform. Soon, the demigods were all staring at a full-grown stallion, with a shiny black coat and intelligent eyes. It made Percy miss his own Pegasus, Blackjack, even though Frank didn't have wings. Frank quickly turned back into himself. Piper, Annabeth, Leo, and Jason looked stunned. Hazel gave Frank a hug, murmuring something about him being a very handsome horse. Of course, Leo was the first to actually talk. Percy had only known Leo for a day or so, but he knew that Leo was definitely ADHD like most demigods. Leo's mouth never seemed to shut, either.

"Whoa. So you can turn into any animal? That makes me feel pretty meek." Meek was not the first word Percy would use to describe Leo, but he knew how Leo felt.

"Don't worry, you'll always be Flame Boy to me," Piper teased. At the mention of flames, Frank jerked his head a little, no one really noticed.

"I wonder if I could communicate with you when you're in horse form like I do most horses. That would be awesome!" Percy said.

"That's something you'll have to figure out later. Get back to the story, Percy. We have no time to spare," Reyna silenced the rest of the group. Percy finished his tale with the battle at Camp Jupiter and the rebuilding of the camp.

"So everyone's caught up on each other's stories. I think we need to have a full meeting tomorrow with the rest of the camp, detailing the quest."

"Yeah, we need to get to Greece as quickly as possible. The ship needs a few minor adjustments so it can fly long-term, but we should be ready to set off by the beginning of next week," Leo supplied.

"Greece? No, we need to go to Rome first. There's someone we need to find..." Hazel was too troubled to continue. Annabeth looked questioningly at Percy.

"Has Nico been disappearing from camp the past few months?" Percy asked.

"That really isn't relevant, Percy, but yeah. He keeps going off on his own. It's driving Chiron mad," Annabeth said.

"Wait, Nico diAngelo? How do you know Hazel's half-brother?" Frank asked. Everyone seemed really confused. They all looked at Percy for answers.

"Nico was leaving Camp Half-Blood to go to Camp Jupiter. He was acting as Pluto's ambassador here. He went to go find the doors of Death, and Gaea captured him. Now we think he's in Rome, but he doesn't have much time. Hazel's right, we need to find him before we go to Greece," explained Percy.

"Wait, Nico was supposed to be looking for you, too. Why didn't he first tell you who you were when you met him at Camp Jupiter?" Annabeth asked.

"You know Nico, he always has some kind of reason. I guess we'll have to find him to ask him."

"Good, so it's settled. We will have a Senate Meeting tomorrow and will go from there. Now everyone to their barracks. It's been a long day," ended Jason. Everyone slowly got up and returned to their dorms, each of them thinking the same thing. Tomorrow was definitely going to be interesting.

* * *

**Percy:**

Percy thought that it was always easy to wake up at Camp: there was always so much to do, etc. Plus Frank snored- and loudly- so that acted as a pretty good alarm clock. This morning was no different. He got up and stretched, pulling on an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. Percy couldn't even describe how good it felt to be wearing one again. He tiptoed out of the cabins and towards the unicorn stables, where Tyson and Ella slept. Percy had been surprised when Tyson didn't come out to greet everyone, especially Annabeth, but apparently Tyson had been in the forges all day working on something. He checked his watch- Tyson had brought it with him when he first found Percy, and Percy had spent the entire night reminiscing on the adventures he, Tyson, and Annabeth had had in the Sea of Monsters. It was 5:47, just about 15 minutes before morning curfew.

Percy crept into the stables, trying not to disturb the unicorns.

_Lord! My Lord! _They all chanted in his head, neighing and stomping their hooves. Percy told them to be quiet- the last thing he needed was to hear the thoughts of the entire herd. Percy brushed past them, and found what he was looking for in the very back of the barn: a large cyclops, sleeping on a pile of straw. A gangly red harpy was perched above him.

"Tyson, wake up. C'mon big guy," Percy whispered, shaking Tyson ever so slightly. Percy needed to talk to Tyson about Ella's prophecies- especially that one about the Mark of Athena, and since Ella wasn't very good about staying on-topic, Percy usually got information through Tyson. Percy's half-brother turned over with a moan, but Ella woke up frantically.

"Wake up. Despertarse in Spanish. The early bird catches the worm. Ella likes cinnamon. Not cheese. Not worms." She fluttered nervously to Percy's

side.

"Morning, Ella," Percy said kindly. "Do you think you can get Tyson to wake up?" Percy prodded Tyson a little, but to no avail.

"Tyson. Tyson is a cyclops. General Tyson of the Cyclops Army. Peanut Butter. Strange battle cry, very strange..." Ella continued. Percy sighed. So much for that. As he was about to yell into Tyson's ear, or maybe summon some water to blast him with (in a loving, half-brother kind of way, of course), the conch shell rang for morning muster. Percy sprinted back to the Fifth Cohort's Barracks. Hazel had been late one time, and it had pained Centurion Frank to make her clean the streets in New Rome with a toothbrush. Miraculously, Hazel finished in record time. Percy just, uh, helped a bit. That giant wave of water that cleaned all the street paths could have come from anywhere, right? But Percy didn't want to be late, because Frank would know to be more creative with his punishment. He made it just in time, panting.

"Okay, everyone to breakfast," Frank said. They all followed him to the dining hall. Percy sat with Frank, Hazel, and Leo. Piper sat with Jason and Reyna at the praetor's table, and Annabeth was discussing architecture with some son of Minerva named Bobby at another table. Hazel looked like she was trying to hold it together. Her golden gaze never wavered from Leo's face.

"So Leo, did you build the Argo II by yourself? That's one wicked ship," Percy asked. He loved the idea of a ship, even if it had to be in the air. Leo looked proud as he answered.

"Me and my cabin, with some help from all the other campers. It took a while, with a few... uh... malfunctions. Yeah, let's just say that."

"I guess you met the metal dragon. How many cabins has it torched thus far? I mean, that is who the mast-head is modeled off of, right?" Percy waved his hand in an 'Ill-explain-later' gesture to Frank and Hazel, who were giving him weird looks.

"Festus? That's actually his head. We used him on our quest and he, kinda, malfunctioned. His head is getting good use now though." Leo nodded, beaming.

"Wait, you saved the world while riding on Happy the Dragon?" Frank interjected.

"Yeah, well..." Leo was interrupted by Reyna.

"Demigods! There will be a Senate meeting at 11:00. Attendance is mandatory. We will be discussing the quest upon us," Reyna spoke. As she sat back down, Tyson and Ella came ambling in.

"Brother!" Tyson squeezed Percy in another bear-hug.

"Hey there, big guy! Where were you yesterday?"

"At forge. Made this. For you and Annabeth. She came?" Tyson held out rings to Percy. One was decidedly more masculine, while the other was prettier and more delicate-looking. Both had sparkling stones in the center.

"Yeah, she came. Lemme go get her." Percy pulled her out of her discussion and brought her back over to Tyson.

"Annabeth!" Even Percy's girlfriend couldn't escape from Tyson's hugs.

"Squeezing... can't... breathe..." Tyson let her go and Annabeth coughed a few times before recovering herself.

"Hi Tyson! Percy said you were here. Where were you yesterday?"

"Making stuff in forges. Gift for you and Percy. For quest." Tyson gave the girly ring to Annabeth (thank the gods, Percy thought) and the other to Percy.

"Wow, Tyson. It's beautiful!" Annabeth said. "Does it, um, do anything?" Percy nudged her, hinting that she should be nice about the gift.

"Iris Message rings. Prism in center. Now you don't need mist for a rainbow!" Tyson said happily, oblivious to her previous comment.

"Tyson, that's genius! Oh wow, I can get so much use out of this. Thank you!" Annabeth ran off, wanting to play with her new magic toy. Percy slipped the ring onto his finger. Armed with three magic items now- Riptide, his watch/shield, and the ring, he felt accomplished.

"Gee, Tyson. Thanks so much. Now we can talk all the time on the Quest!" Percy said. Tyson nodded happily, and Percy went to go finish breakfast with Hazel, Frank, Leo, and Piper, who had joined them after Jason and Reyna had left. They all asked questions about the ring, and Percy was always happy to show off his half-brother's handiwork. Tyson sat down and was promptly whisked a large plate of peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, and Ella sat next to him, nibbling on a Snickerdoodle cookie. The demigods quickly finished up their meal and went to get ready for the day. Percy sighed. Camp was back to normal. But deep inside he knew he wouldn't be here long.

Percy pressed the feeling away as he jogged to catch up with Frank and Hazel, who were buzzing with excitement for the Senate Meeting and the quest, the adventure of a lifetime.

* * *

**Frank:**

"This meeting of the Senate will now convene," Reyna commanded, ceasing all murmuring amongst the demigods. Reyna and Jason stood at the front of the Senate hall. Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Hazel, and Frank sat in the front row. Octavian was in the front as well but was seated as far away from the rest of them as possible, and that was more than fine by Frank.

"I believe we all know why we are here today. The Prophecy of Seven is happening. We know six of the seven demigods of the prophecy: myself, Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Piper McLean, and Leo Valdez," Jason started. Hazel tensed at the mention of Leo, as she always did, and there was more murmuring about McLean. Frank found it a little funny, too. The child of a Greek goddess and a movie star famous for his role as a Greek warrior, and she was helping to save Greece and its beliefs. Frank had learned not to ask Piper about it, though. She seemed very, um, tense about the subject.

"When the time is right, the seventh demigod will be claimed," Jason continued, but Bobby interrupted from the crowd.

"But who's the seventh?" Jason looked at Reyna.

"We do not know yet, but we believe that the gods will claim their hero soon," Reyna replied. This caused unrest in the rows of Romans. Octavian rose to speak; Frank sighed, knowing what was ahead.

"My fellow Romans, let me be the first to ask. How can we trust people who are unsure of even the Seven demigods going on the quest? How can we

support such a-"

"That is ENOUGH, Octavian," Reyna looked dangerously close to loosing control. Jason attempted to cool her down, but Frank could almost see the steam coming out of her ears. Meanwhile, Percy stood up to speak. Annabeth stood up next to him.

"Look, guys, I know that we may not have a lot to go on, but we need this quest. Gaea and her giants are going to destroy each and every god and goddess- Greek, Roman, it doesn't matter. We have to defeat her. Trust me, I know how it feels to be used, like your godly parent only needs you to help solve their problems. The gods sometimes seem like they don't care, but they will claim the seventh demigod. We just need to have faith." Percy seemed a little embarrassed of his long speech, but he sat back down. Reyna's face color was back to normal, so she and Jason proceeded.

"In honor of our Greek partners, we will decide this quest with democracy. No possible quest members may vote, and the votes of Lares will not be counted. Do I have a statement of support for this quest from my legion?" Reyna asked. Surprisingly, a lot of demigods, almost 3/4, raised their hands.

"Do I have a statement against this quest?" Most of the Lares raised their hands anyway, along with Octavian, all of his posse, and a few others.

"According to majority, the Twelfth Legion will support this quest. It will go as following: Jason Grace, Percy Jackson, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, and one other demigod who remains yet-to-be-named will travel on the Argo II to Rome. There, they will recover son of Pluto... erm, Hades, Nico DiAngelo. They will proceed to Greece and defeat Gaea and her giants? Any questions?" No one raised their hands.

"Good," she concluded. "Senate dismissed."

* * *

**Piper:**

It was all Piper could do to hold it together when she saw them. Jason and Reyna. It killed her to think that someone else knew Jason as well as she did, even better than she did. But the worst was that deep down, she knew that they were far closer than she and Jason had ever been. Call it her Aphrodite-Sense, but she knew when two people 'fit'. Like Percy and Annabeth. Piper saw true love whenever she saw them together. So why didn't she get that feeling when she and Jason were together? The Fates were already cruel enough. They'd almost killed her dad, and now she couldn't even tell him who she really was. It wrenched Piper's heart whenever she had to make up another excuse as to why she couldn't come home from her new 'boarding school' for Christmas. But now they had to take away her boyfriend, the only guy she really truly liked. Piper was totally torn, because she wanted Jason to be happy, but she wanted Jason to be happy with _her_, not Reyna.

**Leo:**

Leo was SO ready for the War Games tonight. He'd heard some of the senior campers at Camp Half-Blood talking about a weekly game of capture the flag (and some weird things about that one time with the Hunters of Artemis, the Oracle, and how funny it had been to watch Percy and Grover carry her back up to the Big House), but he'd been so busy with the Argo II he hadn't really done any normal camp activities for the past few months. So he was psyched.

Percy had explained all the rules to the Greeks- from what Leo caught when he wasn't tuning out, it was basically like capture the flag. All weapons were allowed, all powers were A-OK (provided Leo could control them), and all violence was expected.

Apparently there had been some talk about the Graechus not being able to defend themselves, or not being "worthy" to go on the quest. What better way to prove them wrong than by a spur-of-the-moment war game the night after the Senate meeting?

Everyone stood on the edge of the Field of Mars. Leo saw where the trench made by the Argo II had been hastily filled in with dirt. The Greeks stood out- even more than usual- in Greek-style armor. Percy looked grateful trading in Roman armor for Greek armor. Leo agreed- combat boots definitely weren't Percy's style.

Reyna gave some final instructions from her pegasus. Leo heard somewhere that its name was Skippy, but that had to be some kind of a joke, right?Who names their godly winged horse after a brand of peanut butter? Anyway, there were some changes to the usual lineup. The fifth and third cohorts would attack, the second and fourth would defend, and the first would try to trip up both sides. The change was met with a surprising amount of support. Jason and Reyna, as usual, would act as battlefield refs.

"The war games have begun! You have ten minutes to plan with your teams. Good luck!" Reyna danced away on her pegasus, and Jason flew after her. Percy looked flabbergasted.

"How can he...?" he asked. Annabeth explained, and Percy started to laugh. "Good thing Thalia doesn't have that power, then. Did I ever tell you about the time she drove Apollo's sun chariot? She was so scared..." Annabeth shook her head.

"No way, Seaweed Brain, you aren't getting me distracted. For the next few hours, we're enemies. Then you can tell me about Thalia and whatever the Hades you guys did while I was abducted." Percy looked pouty.

"Seaweed Brain? Aww, you even have your own pet-name, Percy. How adorably romantic," Hazel teased.

"Wait, wait wait. Annabeth got abducted, and you and Jason's long-lost sister got to ride in Apollo's sun chariot?" Frank cut in.

"Don't even get them started, dude. You think normal demigods have weird adventures?" Leo tried to help Frank. Annabeth had tried to keep Leo entertained one day while he was working on the Argo II by telling about all of her and Percy's adventures. The entire time, Leo was like _you could fit this __into a book series!_

The conversation was ended by the groups of cohorts getting together. Annabeth and Percy kissed each other "for good luck"- like they needed an excuse- and Annabeth went over to join the group of second and fourth cohort demigods.

"Okay, so anyone got a plan?" Percy asked.

"Well, I do know that Octavian and his buddies are going to be attacking the Greeks. If he makes them look helpless or bad in any way, he's won," Hazel said. Percy nodded.

"Good point. Okay, since they know I can kick their sorry podexes, they won't be targeting me. They'll be going after Leo." At this point, everyone looked at Leo- that is, except for Hazel, who come to think of it had never met his gaze. "So Leo, you go out there and act all 'helpless, defenseless Greek trying to attack solo because thats how stupid Greeks think' and whatever. What kind of weapon do you use? Knife? Sword?" Percy asked.

Technically Leo's only tools were his tool belt (which looked really stupid tied over his armor, by the way) and his fire. But he often used the hammer from the tool belt...

"Um, a hammer, I guess." Leo stuttered, getting laughs from most of the Romans.

"Oh right, I forgot you're a Hephaestus kid. You good with your hands?"

"Yeah..." Leo _was_ good with his hands, especially when he could control the flames shooting out of them.

"Good. So like I said, you go out there all doe-eyed. Then they try to attack and-"

"And I open fire on 'em!" Leo shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

"Open fire? You have a gun with Celestial bronze bullets or something?"

"Celestial bronze bullets! Why didn't I think of that... oh, um, anyway. Nah, I don't have a gun. When I say open fire..." Leo took a deep breath, and all the other demigods looked at him in anticipation. _Here we go_, thought Leo. He opened his hand and let the flames dance in his fingers.

"...I mean open _fire_."

* * *

**Frank:**

Frank was trying hard not to run away. Fire, seriously? It seemed like a sick joke. Out of all the demigods in the world, the one Frank was supposed to go on a quest with could control fire. It was basically Frank's worst nightmare, only it was reality. Even by demigod standards, that was scary.

All the demigods backed away from Leo, who closed his hand and extinguished the flames. Percy was the first to recover from the shock.

"Leo, how...?" Was all Percy managed to say.

"Um, son of Hephaestus thing, I guess. I can use it though, right? It would scare Octavian out of his skin!" Leo, obviously regretting showing everyone the fire, tried to change topics. Percy slowly nodded, getting more accustomed to the idea.

"Yeah, that would totally work. So you get the first cohort on your tail- don't torch them too much, now- and we get to the fort. They'll be too busy going after the rest of the Greeks anyway. Just hold them off for as long as you can." Percy turned to the rest of the group. "So we sneak by, I divert the water cannons if necessary, Frank and Hannibal bust down the doors, walls, whatever-"

"What about the scorpions and fireballs?" One girl from the fourth cohort asked.

"Good point. For the scorpions... Hazel, could you do those pit-falls again?" Hazel nodded. Last time, Hazel had created spur-of-the-moment holes in the ground that enemies and scorpions alike fell into. The other demigods would be more wary this time, but scorpions were still scorpions. "Good. The fire might be harder, but I guess we'll just have to stay on our feet. We'll attack in star formation, and once Frank gets the walls knocked down, Frank- you double back into formation- and we swarm. I'll cover Annabeth personally, she'll have some nasty tricks up her sleeve. So let's win this!" Percy finished just in time, as Jason yelled, "Cohorts, to your formations! Begin!"

**Annabeth:**

Annabeth's eyes were stormy. There had to be a way to beat Seaweed Brain and his cohort. Otherwise, he'd never let her live it down. She surveyed the group. There was a pretty good-looking bunch of demigods; tough and ready to fight. Bobby started making plans, and everyone else (who obviously knew to listen to children of battle strategy) looked to him for advice. Unlike attackers, defense was sort of cut-and-dried. Bobby assigned demigods to the water cannons ("Remember, don't shoot them at Percy again. You know what happened last time." All the other campers groaned in agreement), put people to defend in the inner room where the banners were held, set some on 'Scorpion Duty', whatever that was, and the rest would be positioned along the inner walls.

"Now, Hannibal- and I presume our part-time pachyderm friend from the Fifth- will be knocking down our doors and outer walls, so stay away from there. Mind Levesque's insta-pits, but I don't think she'll use the tunnels again. And as always, there's Percy..." Annabeth spoke up.

"I can take Percy. That stupid invincible Seaweed Brain can't outfight me," she said, earning her some weird looks.

"Invincible? Percy was invincible at some point?"

"Gods, I am sure glad that wore off before he came here!"

"Imagine having to fight the best warrior at camp and he's invincible to boot!" Various kids called out. Annabeth was incredibly confused. Percy's curse had worn off? It didn't seem possible. But she pushed that train of thought away. She'd ask him after she beat him.

"Yeah, at one point he was... never mind for now. I can still take Percy, but what about that jerk Octavian and his cohort? Won't they be targeting the Greeks from both sides?" Annabeth looked to Bobby. It was hard not taking control, but from the medals on his chest, Bobby had obviously earned his place as leader.

"Oh yeah. Um..." Even he seemed at a loss. Surprisingly, Piper burst out form the crowd.

"I think I can help with that," she said quietly. The Romans snickered.

"What are you gonna do? Bribe him with an autograph from Daddy? Fix his makeup?"At this point, Piper was mad. She turned to the girl that had said it, but suddenly Piper's face changed.

"You know what would make me really happy?" Her voice was honey-like, and had Annabeth not been exposed to her (and Drew's) charm-speak before, she would have been lapping up every word. Instantly, the girl looked like her life goal was to please Piper. "Why don't you come up here, yep, up to the front, and do a nice little dance for us?" The girl ran up to the front of the group and began to hula in full body armor, looking to Piper for encouragement the whole time. "Okay, that's good. You're so helpful!" The girl ran back to her place in line, and suddenly shook her head as if waking up from a dream.

"Wha..? Hey! What did you do to me!" Some of her fellow demigods had to restrain her. All the Romans looked at Piper in awe.

"Yeah, I think I can hold them off," she said, much louder this time. Bobby took to the front once more.

"We can do this! To positions!" he said, as Reyna announced the start of the games.

**Frank:**

Frank ran over to Hannibal and concentrated on every part of him. The long trunk, leathery grey skin, ginormous ears. Frank tuned out the battle that had just begun raging behind him, and slowly felt his body expanding, changing. Soon, there were two elephants standing side by side. Hannibal (who had grown accustomed to his twin) looked to Ele-Frank to lead, and Frank charged at the doors, trying desperately not to step on any of his teammates. Hannibal followed in pursuit. Needless to say, the fort's doors and most of its outer wall were reduced to rubble in practically no time at all. Frank quickly changed into an eagle and flew over to the giant star formation, where he turned back into, well, himself and began to fight. Now came the hard part.

**Hazel:**

Hazel stood near the front of the formation, ready to divert any scorpions or enemies (and in Octavian's case, what was the difference?) from attacking. A few water cannons burst, but everyone knew by now that if anything, the only thing the water did was make Percy fight better. And that was something none of his enemies wanted. So instead they unleashed the scorpions on the attackers. Hazel felt a tingle in her hands, and a giant trench, much like the one made by the Argo II when it first landed, acted as a cage for the scorpions.

Predictably, none of the demigods fell for that trick again. They skirted around the hole and attacked. Hazel pulled our her sword and took a deep breath. She was ready.

**Percy:**

Percy headed the group of demigods. He darted out of the way so the elephants wouldn't step on them, and once the outer walls had been breached, the demigods began attacking and fighting like there was no tomorrow. Percy looked around for Annabeth. Where was she? He came to the realization that she could be invisible just as an invisible knife pressed itself into his throat. Percy reached out, praying he was right, and threw off Annabeth's Yankees cap.

"Game on!" he shouted, and they began to fight.

**Annabeth:**

Annabeth and Percy found themselves locked in combat. Percy had actually influenced his fighting style: Annabeth saw him use some of the same moves as the Romans around them.

But that couldn't stop her. She fought back and though she knew neither of them could really beat the other, she didn't care. She was too in love with the fact that finally, she was fighting Percy again.

**Piper:**

Piper ran down to fight off attacking Romans when she heard a laugh behind her. She spun around, Katatrophis in hand, as she came face-to-face with Octavian and a few of his "closest friends".

"Like the Greeks could ever out-fight a Roman!" he laughed again, and Piper took a deep breath. She let her voice turn sweet as she powered the words she was about to say.

"Now, do you really want to do that? Hurting me wouldn't make me very happy at all. You know what you should do? Call off the attacks on my team, and go focus on the third and fifth cohorts. That Leo kid looks like a big, bad Greek to me. Do you want to go fight him instead? As a favor to me?" she pleaded, batting her eyes. Octavian stepped back as if in a trance.

"How could I be so stupid? First cohort, attack the third and fifth!" he cried, running towards the attackers. His friends looked a little confused, but they weren't about to disobey Octavian, so they followed him. Piper praised herself, and began to fight once again.

**Leo:**

Leo saw Octavian and co. running towards him. Time for some action.

"Not today you scarecrow!" Leo shouted, and he lit his hands. Arrogance turned to fear in Octavian's eyes as Leo shot fireballs after them. Once they were far gone, Percy held his sword to Annabeth's neck as he shouted,

"Good job Leo! You can douse the flames now!" Leo felt so proud. He actually had helped. But, as always, Leo spoke too soon.

As he tried to extinguish his fire, he just... couldn't. Instead, the flames shot farther and farther out. Leo saw the field catching fire, Reyna and Jason calling off the games as the entire fort was engulfed in flame. Leo heard a voice he'd never wanted to hear again.

_Fight now, little pawn, but your flame will kill all those you care about. Just like your mother. You think fire is a gift? Fire only means destruction, and I've made sure that your flame __causes damage. Won't it be nice to see everyone you love burning, screaming for you to stop, and you can't. You aren't even hurt at all. Burn, demigod. BURN! _Gaea laughed as Leo put his flaming hands to his head.

"STOP!" he cried, falling to his knees. Leo feared that the blaze would never end, that he would destroy the only family who'd ever really liked him, but he was soon engulfed in wave after cool ocean wave. Percy continued to flood the field as all the demigods, Greek and Roman, looked at Leo in shock. Octavian looked like he was about to say something, but Jason cut him off.

"Leo..." Leo couldn't meet their eyes, as tears brimmed in his own.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry..." and he ran, past the demigods, past the steaming field, and into the dry summer evening.

* * *

**Leo:**

Leo ran and ran, not even caring where he went anymore. He felt the Mist lift as he passed Camp Jupiter's borders. Heart pumping, he sprinted away from the smoke rising off the field, the shocked faces of the only family he'd ever really had. The world around him was a blur. After what seemed like forever, he finally stopped in the middle of a suburban street. Happy, aloof mortals sat on porches, laughing, completely oblivious to the world around them. For the first time in a long time, Leo thought of his mom, how he had ruined their life. The memory was too painful to bear.

_Shut up, Valdez. No time to feel sorry for yourself, _Leo thought to himself. He began to stroll down the street, absentmindedly gazing at the happy families enjoying the perfect summer weather. Anything to get his mind off of... everything. Leo was so absorbed in his thoughts he didn't even see the little boy that ran out onto the sidewalk. Leo skidded to a stop before he ran the little kid over- he was still in his armor, and crushing someone in that would definitely leave some nasty bruises. The boy looked up at him with huge brown eyes.

"Hi! I'm Tanner what's your name are you a knight I like knights I get to play knights with my older sister her name is Gemma only she's not a knight she's the princess-" he was cut off by a woman, presumably his mother, coming down from her lawn.

"Tanner, come here! We don't talk to strangers, remember?" She turned to Leo. "I'm so sorry. He's on a bit of a Medieval Knight phase and you're wearing... armor..." she seemed to notice this as she said it.

"Oh, yeah. About that... it's actually Greek armor. I'm, uh, advertising- yeah, advertising for a Greek exhibit in that one museum..." Leo prayed that she'd take the bait.

"Oh, I didn't know about that. Thank you again for putting up with Tanner. I know he can be a handful."

"It's no problem, honestly." Leo forced himself to smile. The kid reminded him so much of himself when he'd been younger, with his dark, curly hair and big brown eyes. Tanner and his mother walked back to their house, and Leo continued on his way.

Leo had actually been mistaken for a knight. A _knight_. But knights were supposed to help, to defend what is right. And all Leo could do was cause destruction. He wasn't a knight. He didn't deserve to be one of the Seven. He didn't even deserve to be a demigod.

As sunset faded to night, Leo dug a bedroll and a thin blanket out of his tool belt. He found a patch of woods on the outskirt of the neighborhood and settled down for the night.

Right before sleep took over, Leo made himself a promise: no matter if he never truly found a home, if he never got to have a family, he would never hurt anyone. Ever. Again.

* * *

**Jason:**

Leo ran off into the woods, faster than Jason had ever seen him run before. Jason started to follow him, but was pulled back by Reyna.

"He needs to do this alone. Your campers here are the ones who truly need your help." He turned around to see everyone staring at him, silently begging for reassurance, or instructions, or both. Percy had adverted disaster by flooding the field with water from the Little Tiber, and once all the flames were gone, he channeled the water back to the riverbed.

The Field of Mars, one of the 12th Legion's greatest prides, lay in ruins. In addition to the trenches dug by Hazel, the debris from the toppled fort, and the normal scuffle marks from War Games, the entire field had been torched. The grass, now dry and black, crunched under Jason's feet as he surveyed the damage. Most of the demigods were trying to dry themselves off- to extinguish the whole area, Percy had doused the warriors as well as the landscape around them.

Jason was in shock. He knew that Leo sometimes had trouble controlling his powers, but it had never been this bad. How could such a nice guy cause such utter destruction?

"Demigods! Stay calm!" Reyna commanded. But she didn't need to. For once, every demigod in Camp Jupiter was silent. Eyes scanned their surroundings, begging for some sort of command to be taken. Piper ran to Jason, and not for the first time, he noticed how beautiful she was. Her chocolatey hair streamed out of her armor. Her eyes, barely visible under the shadow of her helmet, were a constant meld of blue, green, and hazel-y brown. But Jason was Praetor. He didn't have time to stare into Piper's shining face... he had a duty to his legionnaires.

"Jason, how could he have... why would he... where did he even go? We have to find Leo, we_ have_ to!" Jason never thought Piper would cry over Leo, whom she'd laughed with so many times in the past. But she was right. Something had to be done. Jason looked at his troops, an ironic mix of singed and doused, and the leader in him took over.

"We need a crew to, ah, fix the field after tonight's incident. Ivy and Eden," he gestured to twins standing side-by-side, surprised he even remembered their names. "You and the rest of Ceres's children start on re-growing the fields. Dakota and your siblings, same goes for you- just try whatever you can. Ryan, I want you, Riley, Hank, Nikki, Kevin, and Natalie on general War Games cleanup. For fort repair and deconstruction, Bobby, you lead Devon, Claire, Miller, Kristen, Maya, Alex, and Jordan. The rest of you can help out if you want, or can retire for the night." To tell the truth, he really just picked the people he recognized the most, but everyone seemed pretty OK with their jobs.

"I need all the potential quest members to stay. The rest of you are dismissed," Reyna said. The demigods set out to get tools or to go back to their barracks. Soon enough, the only one there besides the questers was, surprise surprise, Octavian. Reyna cut him off before he even got to speak. "And not a word from you, Octavian." She practically spit the name.

Octavian refused to take no for an answer, of course, and took a deep breath. Jason sighed, remembering Octavian's signal that one of his tirades was about to begin.

"I told you from the very beginning, Reyna." There was even more venom, more ice in his voice than there had been in hers. "The Greeks are nothing but disaster for the Romans. There was a reason Rome lasted for centuries longer than Greece. Greeks have no self-control. They think of nothing and no one but themselves. How are we to defeat Gaea when one of the so-called 'chosen' can't even stop himself from potentially injuring his allies, his friends? He BURNED THE FIELD TO THE GROUND, Reyna. And no matter how long you continue to deny it, look around you. You aren't stupid, Reyna." At this point he was practically hissing in her ear, causing a wave of over-protective-ness to wash over Jason. "But you need to look around you. And you need to decide what's really best for the Camp. That's all I ask." With that, Octavian turned and stalked away.

Jason cursed under his breath. Leave it to Octavian to make turning on the Greeks sound like the sensible idea. He could tell Reyna was weighing her options, her eyes were guarded and clouded. Jason had discovered long ago, probably even before Reyna herself, that his fellow praetor's fatal flaw was indecision. She was proud and impulsive, and generally had good judgement, but the slightest pushing could cause her to reexamine every decision she'd ever made. Jason could see the wheels turning, and decided Reyna turning against the cause would create a foe the demigods could not afford to have. Besides, she could still be the seventh demigod. Secretly, Jason was hoping she'd be the seventh demigod; her instinct would make her perfect for this kind of thing.

Jason turned to her and barely whispered to her, pretending not to see Piper flinch at the action. That was a problem for another day.

"Don't listen to him. Just stay with your judgement. You're always right," he breathed into her ear. Reyna barely nodded, like she was convincing herself to do just that. She sighed and finally seemed to notice the five other demigods next to her; Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Hazel, and Frank looked patiently back at her.

"We need to talk. Now." Reyna commanded. "Go back to your barracks and change out of your armor, and meet me back in the dining pavilion. Immediately." She strode off. Everyone looked at Jason in obvious confusion, and he just shrugged.

"You probably don't want to disobey her," he said, and started back to his bunk.

* * *

**Annabeth:**

"You can't be serious!" Annabeth shouted. People had seen Annabeth mad, but (with the possible exception of Percy) never this mad. She and Reyna looked each other in the eyes, steely grey meeting blazing olive. The two daughters of battle were definitely living up to their names.

"Leo is a loose cannon. We cannot sacrifice Roman troops to go look for him. If he returns, it must be of his own choice." Reyna's voice was dangerously calm, but Annabeth knew that the other girl was at her breaking point.

"You've known Leo for less than a week. You have absolutely no right to judge him in any way. And even if the loss of one of the best campers here doesn't concern you, he was a confirmed member of the quest. You can't find a replacement for fate," Annabeth spat. The two had been going at each other like this for almost an hour. Reyna's eyes narrowed, and she reached to her sword. Annabeth opened her mouth, but Percy suddenly wedged himself between them.

"Why don't we just settle this tomorrow? You're both tired, the rest of us are tired, and if I have to hear you guys screaming at each other for one more second..." Percy glared at them both. Annabeth wheeled to face Percy, who instantly backed off with his hands in a gesture of surrender. He'd seen that look on Annabeth before and didn't like where he knew this was heading.

"In case you haven't noticed, _Perseus_, one of our campers is missing-in-action. Sorry, but this is slight priority over your _sleep schedule_!" Percy flinched at the use of his real name, which Annabeth never, ever used unless she was really mad. Like I'll-gut-you-without-a-second-glance mad. Percy looked to the rest of the group for support; everyone quickly stepped back. But Jason spoke up.

"Percy's right. We're all a little shaken about what's happened in the past few hours. I'm sure everyone'll be much more... agreeable come tomorrow." Hazel, Piper, and Frank nodded hastily. Annabeth narrowed her eyes, but Reyna sighed.

"They're right, you know. I'm just a little frazzled about what happened. Truce?" Reyna held out her hand. There was still anger in her eyes, but Reyna seemed to realize that they were going nowhere with all the fighting. Annabeth glared at her.

"Truce," Annabeth replied though gritted teeth. She shook Reyna's hand stiffly and stalked off back to her cabin. She heard Reyna and Jason dismissing the rest of the group, but she didn't look back. Percy jogged up to meet her after a minute or so, but she brushed past him without a word. She didn't want to see anyone, not even Percy. Annabeth stormed into her barrack and it took all her power not to slam the door behind her and wake all the sleeping Romans in there. Instead, she settled into a restless sleep.

She found herself in a place just like her Camp Half-Blood cabin. Bookshelves surrounded her, filled with ancient scrolls and modern manuscripts alike. Suddenly, Annabeth knew where she was.

"No way," she breathed, her mood forgotten. She was in the frickin' Library of Congress. The restricted section. Number three on her "top places I have to see" list. And it was all she'd ever imagined, even if she was only dreaming. Annabeth walked around slowly, wondering what she should dig into first. But she spotted someone alone, sitting at a far table in the corner. As Annabeth walked closer, she realized who it was. The woman studied the scroll in her hands, her gray eyes completely locked on the writing. Annabeth kneeled.

"Mother."

Athena turned to look at her favorite daughter, a quiet pride glowing in her face.

"Annabeth." As was the way of the war goddess, Athena wasted no time on formalities. "I have limited time and so much to tell you. Sit." Annabeth obliged. "It took too much time for me to break through the boundaries, the Romans' as well as Zeus's. But never mind that. I saw the fight you had with the praetor girl. I have known for a while, but this was the right time to tell you. You are the final demigod of the Great Prophecy." Annabeth gasped.

"Me?"

"Don't look so astounded. The Fates choose only the best when it comes to saving the world. But be warned. If the quest is to fail, it will be by your hand. Long before you were born, I made a mistake. I- I let my pride cloud my vision. And I was told that one day, the child I depended on most would suffer the consequences." She looked at her favorite daughter, her eyes dreary like dirty rainwater. "The Mark of Athena will blind you. And if you cannot conquer it..." Annabeth was speechless. "Know that I am proud of you. I have faith that you will choose the right path. Now go, before Zeus discovers us."

Athena waved her hand, and Annabeth awoke, upright in her bed, trembling and covered in cold sweat.

* * *

**Piper:**

Piper still couldn't get used to not having him around. He was always the calm, comic relief that everyone needed in the middle of the storm. But Leo was gone. She'd tossed and turned all night, not knowing what to do. Should they go after him, like Annabeth said? Her heart agreed with the daughter of Athena- Leo had rescued her in more ways than one so many times. But what Reyna said rang true as well. They couldn't put the quest at risk. Gaea sure as Hades wasn't going to wait for the seven demigods to get perfectly situated before attacking. Which to trust, her head or her heart? Piper finally fell into a restless, but thankfully dreamless, sleep.

The next morning, she woke at noon (unthinkably long considering the Roman rules, but she figured Reyna had let her sleep in late because the meeting last night had lasted until almost four in the morning), gratefully well-rested but still indecisive. Not knowing what else to do, Piper decided to IM Camp Half-Blood, not seeking the advice of anyone in particular, but someone- anyone- who she could just spill her mind to. She walked over to the bathhouse and threw a drachma into the rainbowy mist seeping through the doors.

"O, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me... someone who I can talk to at Camp Half-Blood." Piper felt more than a little stupid, but the mist responded to reveal none other than Piper's half-sister, Lacy. With her curly blonde pigtails and brace-face teeth, Lacy wasn't exactly the stereotypical daughter of Aphrodite. But then again, neither was Piper.

Piper cleared her throat, and Lacy, who'd been looking through magazines and clipping new pictures to post on her Hottie Collage, looked up frantically. When she saw Piper, Lacy's entire face brightened.

"Piper! Oh my gods how've you been how are the Romans did you find Percy have you gone on the quest yet guess what I was at my school dance last weekend before we got out for summer break and I danced with the cutest guy his name was Carter and I go to school with his sister Sadie but they look nothing alike he was SO cute with curly hair and tan skin and the nicest smile but I could tell there was something weird about him Drew says to stay away from Sadie and her brother 'cuz they creep he out or whatever I just think she thinks Sadie ruins her image-"

"Um, that's nice, Lacy," Piper interrupted kindly. Lacy took a breath for the first time since she'd seen Piper. Lacy nodded eagerly, her curly pigtails bouncing as if an invisible force was tugging them.

"So why did you call? Please tell me there isn't any bad news. Chiron'll be really upset..." Lacy had calmed down considerably.

"Um, well, Leo's run away. He thought he was going to hurt us all because he couldn't control his fire. And the head of the Romans doesn't want to look for him, but Annabeth thinks we should. And I don't know who to agree with. Sorry for bugging you, I just needed someone to talk to." Emotion clouded Piper's voice, and Lacy looked thoughtful.

"Leo's the guy you normally go to for this stuff, isn't he," she said kindly, more a statement than a question. Piper nodded slowly. She really needed Leo, the entire _quest_ needed Leo.

"Well, I think you have your answer. You're going to have to think about it by yourself, but Leo's more than your fellow soldier. He's your friend who's sacrificed a lot for you. Maybe it's time to repay him." Piper had never heard her bubbly half-sister speak so wisely, but she immediately took Lacy's advice to heart.

"Thanks, Lacy. I'll call you back when we have more news. Tell Chiron we found Percy and everyone's OK for now." Piper managed to smile.

"OK bye! Keep us updated!" Lacy waved and Piper cut the connection. She knew what she was going to do.

_**And that's all I have. Thanks for reading!**_


	2. Introducing OCs

**Honestly, this has no plot. Zero. But I felt like I should introduce my OCs who go to Percy's school, so here you go. Please feel free to skip. **

I didn't realize I was clinging to the bars on the headboard of my bed until I felt my mom yanking me by the feet to get-up-before-you're-late-to-school-and-Paul-is-going-to-give-you-a-ride-so-don't-make-him-late! I groaned and did the first sensible thing that came to mind; I chucked my pillow at her- in a friendly way, of course. Only later did I realize that now I had nothing to shove over my ears while she ranted on. My mom was usually pretty laid back- she barely even batted an eye when Nico had spontaneously shadow- traveled to our apartment last week- but school was her big exception.

"I'm up already!" She left me alone to get ready for school and I finally had a couple seconds to actually wake up. It was September in my junior year at Goode High School, where my stepdad Paul worked as an English teacher. I'd somehow managed to not get expelled for two years in a row, but I wasn't about to push my luck by being late. I got up and trudged over to the shower. Nothing like fresh, hot water to get you up- in my case especially. I walked out of the shower- already dry, of course- and rustled through my dresser for some acceptable/clean clothes. All I could find was a Camp Half-Blood shirt, but I'd already made that mistake freshman year. Those had been some weird looks I'd received. Anyway, I finally found a cleanish shirt and some jeans. A hand automatically went to my Camp Half-Blood necklace (in case it fell off while I was asleep despite it being tied in a tight knot- it could happen!); I felt practically naked without it. Shoving my feet into my battered sneakers, I walked into our kitchen filled with the smell of my mom's cooking. Blue waffles- my favorite. Paul was sitting at the table with his coffee, talking to Mom about the year ahead.

"So I have a big lesson on Greek 'myths' planned for your class in a week or so, Percy," he smiled at me, putting air-quotes around 'myth'. I smiled back. Maybe I could actually pass the course this year.

"Look at the time! You both need to hurry, or else you'll be late!" my mom warned, bringing over a plate of waffles for me and a piece of toast for Paul, who had never really learned about the blue food but was experienced enough in this sort of thing to know not to ask. I shoveled the food, grabbed my backpack, and gave my mom a hug as Paul and I walked out the door. "Remember your swim practice today! I'll pick you up at four!" My mom called out as we were leaving. Like I could possibly forget the only reason I came to school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. I know it might have been cheating, but it was still nice to be good at something. I was even the varsity team co-captain this year. Anyway, we hopped into Paul's dented Prius, deemed the Pega-Prius by the campers (it was actually really funny to hear all the gossip from the mortals at my school about how he'd received four identical, circular marks on his hood over the summer), and pulled into the parking lot around seven. I had a good half an hour before classes started, but I had to be in homeroom for morning attendance and announcements. Still, I had some time. I walked over to my locker, threw open the door, and shoved my backpack inside, slamming it before my accumulating mountain of junk came spilling down on me. A guy behind me stifled a laugh.

"Is there a monster in your locker or something, Percy?" He didn't understand how real his statement could actually be. I turned to face one of my best mortal friends, a guy named Rory. He had longish brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a never-fading grin on his face. Had I not known him to be totally, 100% mortal, I would have suspected he was a son of Hermes: he was always laughing and goofing around, but was more hyper than chihuahuas on caffeine. He wore a shirt with some kind of graphic on it, jeans, and bright Nikes.

"Ha ha. Why are you out of bed before 7:40? New alarm clock? Morning detention?" His guilty but mischievous grin told me the latter option was correct. Like me, Rory had a knack for getting into trouble. "What'd you do this time?" Before he could answer, another guy shouted our names from down the hallway. I knew without even looking that Cooper was making

his way towards us. He had tan skin, freckles, and coppery hair, and it made his blue eyes stand out. Cooper was my co-captain on the swim team; he joked that we both "practically breathed water". If only he knew... Anyway, Cooper walked up beside us. He was wearing a navy "Goode is Good" shirt with gray sweats.

"Hey, Perce. You coming to swim practice today?"

"Or do you have to stay home with Mr. Blofis grading tests, Mr. 'the only reason I pass English is because my stepdad is my teacher'?" Rory joked.

"Yeah, I'll be there. Because Rory's option sounds_ so_ much better..." I replied. We chatted idly for a bit before two girls joined our group. Named Darby and Lainey, you'll never find two girls who are so different. Darby had brown hair with various colored streaks (she dyes them a different color every other week or so) and a long white feather clip-on, usually held in a messy bun. Her ears were triple-pierced and she had a small silver stud at the base of her nose. Her clothes (when they weren't covered in paint or other art supplies) were very hipster-esque; she reminded me a little of Rachel Dare, only even more artsy.

Lainey, on the other hand, was an all-around athlete. Her dirty blonde hair seemed like it was perpetually in a tall ponytail, and her wardrobe never strayed from T-shirts, running shorts, and what seemed like hundreds of different pairs of sneakers. How they were best friends, I'll never know.

"So what's up, boys? Anything interesting happen over the weekend?" Darby asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Well that sucks. So much for polite conversation; what're we going to talk about now?"

"Rory got another detention," I announced, grinning at Rory's instantly red face. Payback for commenting about Paul... erm, Mr. Blofis. Lainey groaned.

"'Cuz that totally kills your spotless record," she laughed. "What did you do, anyway?" We waited for Rory to begin his story, knowing ahead of time that it would probably be wildly exaggerated and extremely one-sided. He cleared his throat.

"I was peacefully eating lunch on Friday- by myself, mind you. Thanks a lot for randomly disappearing again, Percy." I shrugged 'sorry', but my friends were used to me disappearing in the middle of school, only to return about a half an hour or so later. What they didn't know was that I had to excuse myself to fight monsters, but they just complained about how lucky I was that the (Mist-tricked) school staff never noticed my "excursions". Anyway, Rory and I always ate lunch together on Tuesdays and Fridays because everyone else had a different lunch period those days, but I decided he'd rather enjoy his lunch than have to fight a bunch of dracaena that attacked. At least they waited until lunch period this time.

"So my mom had packed me a bag of cookies to split with you guys and since none of you were there... well, I couldn't just throw them away, could I? I was eating a few when that jerk Collin and his posse _and_ the head of the Percy Jackson/Cooper Thomas Fan Club, Ms. Hanna Darren in the flesh" at this point Rory used his Announcer voice, then pretended to gasp, and finally begged an invisible Hanna for her autograph.

Hanna was the most popular girl in school, but the only guys 'good enough' for her were the two guys she couldn't get. Cooper and Lainey were together, and I would never dump Annabeth for such a shallow idiot. "-show up asking for Percy. I dunno why. So I said I had no idea where you went and they stole my lunch and I got kinda angry and I punched Collin in the gut, and Mrs. Warner was watching..." he sighed.

"Was the detention worth punching him?" Cooper asked. Rory's face lit back up.

"Every second!" he said. The bell rang for homeroom to start, and we all made our separate ways, making plans to meet up for lunch.


	3. Nico's Visit

I was sitting in my desk during homeroom, tapping my pencil on my desk and my foot against the floor. Gotta love ADHD. Everyone was talking and goofing off, and I was in the middle of a discussion with Cooper (he was insisting that Lainey was more athletic than Annabeth; I was trying not to laugh) when I heard it.

"Percy Jackson, please report to the school office." I recognized the voice of Mrs. Hickerson, the school secretary, over the intercom.

"We'll finish this later," I joked to Cooper as I jogged down the hall. Unfortunately, I'd been to the principal's office for... not-so-good reasons, and I was hoping that they hadn't caught me doing something 'bad' again this time. I walked into the office and did a double-take. There, standing next to my principal, was a grumpy-looking Nico diAngelo. His long, shaggy black hair was almost down to his shoulders, and his deep brown eyes looked almost as scary as his father's. Mr. Millar, the school principal, cleared his throat.

"Ah, Mr. Jackson. I believe that this is your..." he looked a little uncomfortable about standing next to Nico, and rightly so.

"My cousin, sir," I supplied. He nodded, and I turned to look at Nico. "Nico, why the Ha-_heck_ are you at my _school_?"

"Mr., uh, Brunner made me come. He said that I should technically be starting high school next year and that my methods of... homeschooling weren't appropriate for a boy my age." Nico was normally a good liar, but for some reason he seemed a little shaky. "He said that- that Bianca would want me to go. That she would want me to have... a normal life..." He looked closer to crying than I'd seen him in a long time, but the principal was as oblivious as ever. Gods, Chiron needs to take a lesson in being subtle.

"Mr..." the principal glanced down at the paper in his hand. "DiAngleo is just touring for the day. I would normally set him with a freshman, or a more... impeccable student, but because you're the only one he knows here, I figured he would have a better experience with you. Please make him feel welcome." He handed me a note excusing me for being late to my first class and set the two of us on our way. Nico was sniffling nervously, and I did my best to console him. But do you hug the King of Ghosts? I honestly didn't know. Anyway, we walked down the empty hall and I told Nico about Goode to take his mind off things. By the time we made it to my math class Nico was back to his normal, sulky self, his mental barriers reinforced. Anyway, we walked in right as Mrs. Raleigh was explaining the Pythagorean Theorem. Naturally, all attention was lost as Nico and I walked in the door.

"There you are, Percy!" Rory shouted from the back of the class. "Who's the creepy goth kid?" Oh, so discreet. Nico glared at him, and for once Rory's mouth closed. Mrs. Raleigh looked at me, demanding an explanation. I handed her the note from the office.

"This is my cousin, Nico. He's gonna be a freshman next year, and is touring at Goode today." The teacher nodded.

"You can take your seat now, Mr. Jackson. Just pull up that desk from the corner next to you." With that, she resumed her lesson. Rory and I passed notes and Lainey actually tried to pay attention while Nico doodled (is it considered doodling if all he drew was skeletons and skulls, weapons, blood, and shadows?).

_So is this kid actually your cousin? I thought you said you didn't have any other family in New York._

_Yeah, he's my cousin on my dad's side..._

_Oh. _Rory knew I didn't talk about my dad much, and decided to switch topics. _Kinda creepy, isn't he? How old is the kid anyway?_

_He's around thirteen. _I decided not to tell him that Nico was turning seventy-eight in October. _And if you think he's scary, you should meet his dad._

_Yeah, not exactly on my to-do list. Oh well, Cooper and Darby are gonna flip when they find out they missed this!_

"Mr. Jackson? Mr. McKearen? Do you think that's a very good way to impress our guest?" The entire class, including my teacher, was now staring at me. Nico was snickering under his breath while he watched our faces turn Ares-style red with embarrassment. "I expect you'll pay attention the rest of the class. Am I understood?"

"Yes, M'am." She turned back to the board, drawing triangles and writing letters and numbers that were as good as hieroglyphics to me. I tried to pay attention; honestly, I did try. But Nico passed me another piece of paper. I could barely read his scrawling cursive (when he'd first learned to write back in the 1940s, schools didn't teach print handwriting).

_Are you usually this well-behaved in class? No wonder you've gotten expelled from everywhere else. _I glared at him and he looked innocently back at me. _How can you read what she's writing, anyway?_

_I can't. Why else do you think Annabeth has to tutor me at Camp?_

_Dude, she actually tutors you? I thought it was just an excuse for you guys to make out. _I blushed again. Rory, who had been not-so-secretly looking over my shoulder the entire time, joined in the conversation.

_Oh, so your cousin is another member of this alleged "Camp"? By the way, how many times have you _really _gotten expelled? _Nico gave me a sideways glance when Rory mentioned Camp, but I just shrugged. I'd told all my friends that I spent the summer at a Camp for ADHD/Dyslexic kids. But we didn't talk it much because my answers were always somewhat evasive.

_You mean you haven't told him? _wrote Nico. _Before Goode, he's been kicked out of every school he's been to. There was that one time with his old math teacher, Mrs. Dodds- _I elbowed Nico before he could elaborate.

_Wow. Even more impressive record than mine. _Rory penned_. _I guess I didn't realize how much time had passed, because the bell rang and everyone filed out of the classroom for free period. Rory, Lainey, and I went straight to our usual hangout on the front steps of the school, Nico in tow. There, we met up with Cooper and Darby, who did a double take when they saw Nico.

"Perce, who's your shadow?" Darby asked.

"Nico DiAngelo, my cousin. He'll be a freshman next year so he's looking at the school." I said simply.

"'Sup?" Nico shrugged.

"Nico, you already know Rory and Lainey. This is Darby and Cooper." I gestured to each of them.

"Cool."

"So what school do you go to now?" Cooper asked. Nico shrugged again.

"I'm normally... home schooled, but Mr. Brunner, my, uh, tutor talked to my dad and said I should go to a normal school. Goode's pretty nice, but I like my space."

"No kidding," I heard Darby mutter, but I decided to ignore her.

"What did your dad think of that? He's normally not the most agreeable guy," I noted. Thunder rumbled in the clear sky, but most of the Goode students were used to the 'strange' weather around here. It never really stormed anyway.

"He didn't really care. I guess the guy's got bigger problems than his only kid," Nico grumbled. The rest of my friends looked shocked at Nico's bitterness towards his father, but I had nothing but compassion for the poor kid.

"So where are you staying while you're here?" I asked, hoping to switch topics.

"Do your parents not live in New York?" Lainey asked.

"If his parents lived somewhere else, wouldn't he be going to school _somewhere else_?" Rory asked.

"Actually, my mom's dead, and my dad lives in L.A. He's kind of important, so I don't stay with him much. Besides, his new wife hates me." Nico shot me a knowing glance, smirking.

"Oh. Sorry, Dude," Rory found a sudden interest in his tattered Converse.

"It's fine. But Mr. Brunner was kinda hoping I could stay with you and your mom and Paul? Pleeeaasssee?" Nico batted his eyes like an Aphrodite girl.

"I guess my parents are pretty used to you popping in. If they're OK with it, mi casa es su casa." I replied.

"Oh, so you know Spanish now?" Nico asked. "Always the show-off. Percy can't just be bilingual-" he was cut short when I stamped on his foot.

"It's nothing," I said to my friends, who were obviously baffled that I could speak another language and still fail every English test I take.

"They only offer French and Spanish here, so..." I said pointedly to Nico, who nodded. Thank gods he took the hint and changed the subject.

"So do you guys play any sports or something?"

"Lainey plays every sport known to man: basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, track, soccer, you name it. And Cooper and Percy are swim team co-captains. I swear they're part fish..." Rory supplied. Nico gave me a customary glare.

"Part fish? Oh, haha. Good one Rory," I tried to evade what I knew was coming.

"Considering your... genetics, isn't it wrong for you to be on the swim team?" Nico asked, his voice full of scorn.

"No way. Percy's so good, I dunno what I'd do if he wasn't on the team with me," Cooper added, oblivious to my cousin's true words.

"Whatever. Mr. Brunner isn't going to be pleased though." Nico ignored Cooper's protests. We chatted idly until the bell rang once again, and Nico and I set off so we wouldn't be late to science. My teacher is Ms. Kellerman, and she has zero tolerance for tardiness. But as we walked in, I knew something was off. Instead of my normal science teacher stood a stick-like man with pale skin, greasy, stringy black hair, and unnatural-looking green eyes. He looked like he hadn't eaten in years, and moved like every step pained him, but still motioned impatiently for us to sit down and strode to the front of the room.

"Your regular science teacher was sick today. Quite spur-of-the-moment, really. Terrible, terrible. But I will be your substitute teacher. My name is Mr. Sternitt." His voice was dry and raspy as he began to call roll.

"...Isaacs, Kirsten."

"Here."

"Jackson, _Perseus_?" He looked up suddenly and threw his glance around the room before he met my eyes. He smiled as if it hurt him to do so, noticing neither my red face at being called out by my real name nor the assorted snickers related to it.

"Here. But my name's Percy. Just Percy."

"Oh, excuse me. I guess I will just have to change that." He looked at me as if we were sharing some major secret, and finally laid eyes on Nico. I could've sworn he muttered under his breath, "Two of them? Here?" But he shook his glance and turned back to me.

"Who's your little friend there?" "Nico DiAngelo, who can speak for himself, you know." Nico interrupted.

"Ah. Well then... welcome, Mr. DiAngelo." The words seemed to stick in his mouth. "Today we will be discussing the human body when pushed to its limits. Does anyone know how long anything can go without food?" Somewhat appalled by the question, no one raised their hands. "No?" Well, there are a few who can go a long, long time without eating. And then when they do, they stuff themselves, but the food they eat is never enough to satisfy..." At this point, I was getting seriously freaked out. The guy was practically hissing right in my ear. "But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Percy and friend?" He circled around our desks. Nico's eyes were wild, and he nudged my foot.

_Do you think he's...?_ Nico mouthed, not wanting to finish his sentence. I took one last glance at the "substitute", his hungry eyes, swollen joints, and hunched gait. I nodded discreetly. This guy was one for sure. Nico dug around in his pockets and pulled out a small black lighter.

"Bingo," I heard him say as he sparked a flame and caught a piece of paper on fire. Smoke started curling off of the charred parchment, and naturally, the fire alarms started to go off. People shrieked, their disbelief at Nico's actions temporarily forgotten as they sprinted towards the nearest exit. The ceiling sprinklers turned on, and I had to force myself to get wet- not that I necessarily minded, but walking around inset clothes the rest of the day was not going to be fun. The substitute made no attempt to escape, however. That was the final clue: this guy was a monster. He laughed at us.

"Bonus points for getting the mortals out- and a nice distraction, I do admit. But rescuing their lives seals the fate of yours. Just think how nice it'll be to die in the concrete walls of Goode High School." I pulled out Riptide and Nico concentrated until I felt as if a heavy veil was lifted out of the room. Where our lightly creepy-looking teacher once was now stood an extremely creepy-looking monster. Nico grabbed his sword from who-knows-where (probably Mist-concealed until he needed it) and I turned to my cousin with a question on my face.

"Temporarily removing all Mist from a place," he smiled devilishly. "Been working on that one for a while." Am I the only demigod alive who can't do crazy stuff with the Mist? I put the thought aside for later. We attacked simultaneously, but even that was not enough. The monster just laughed.

"You don't know what you're getting yourselves into, little demigods. I can make you so miserable you'll beg for death!"

"Who are you, anyway?" I hoped to distract him, but he had no problem avoiding Nico as he answered me.

"I am Limos, god of hunger and famine! Always consuming, but never sustained. But demigods are more filling than the rest. And I rarely find a meal so fine!" Limos lifted his hand, and both Nico and I were hit with a grueling wave of pain. I clutched my stomach, and Nico doubled over.

"What did you do to us?" Nico managed to get out. Limos laughed again.

"You are experiencing hunger, true hunger. And while you are weak, I strike!" He launched himself at us, clawing with his sharp fingernails. I was heaving. Even the water still raining down on us couldn't numb the sheer, gripping pain. I mustered all the energy i could, and with a final stand, I stabbed Limos in the chest with Riptide. He screamed, a dry, terrifying sound, as he crumbled into sand. The pain subsided as quickly as it had come. I put up my sword and Nico brought the Mist back into the room, and after half an ambrosia square each, we ran out of the school looking like anyone else who'd been trying to escape. Just a lot more wet. I came face to face with a damp Mr. Millar, who did not look happy. I sighed. I knew what was coming.

* * *

"...Completely irresponsible! Putting the lives of student and faculty alike in danger! You will never be allowed in Goode Academy!" The principal's face was red with anger. He'd been yelling at us (namely Nico) for the past hour, and I could tell he was finally running out of steam. Nico nodded solemnly, knowing how much trouble he'd be in if he didn't take full responsibility. Mr. Millar finally sent us out of his office, and Nico followed me to my locker to pack up for the day- there was an early dismissal after today's 'incident'. At least I didn't really get in trouble.

"Guess I won't be joining you next year after all."

"You sound so disappointed," I noticed. Nico started to fake sob, but stopped when I punched him (lightly...ish) on the shoulder.

"Anyway, I'm not leaving until tomorrow afternoon. Can I still crash at your place?"

"You know my mom would kill me if I said no. C'mon, Dead Boy, I'm sure she's making blue cookies right now." And we started towards my apartment. Just another normal day at school


	4. Dance

I paced back and forth across the porch, tapping my fingers on my thighs anxiously. There was only one light on the porch, but the new summer sky was still light, even though it was close to seven. Six fifty-eight to be precise. I must have been quite a sight for her neighbors, but living in California (and living next to a demigod like Annabeth) had probably prepared them for things such as a seventeen year-old guy in a suit on a porch. Just another Saturday night in San Fran. I glanced at my watch. Seven o'clock exactly. Running my hand through my hair one more time (like it really made a difference, but whatever), I hesitantly pressed the doorbell. I could hear kids running around and a faint shout of "Annie! He's here!" The door opened to a middle-aged man wearing old-fashioned aviator's goggles. His face lit up as soon as he saw me.

"Percy! How've ya been? My daughter's been so excited she's been talking about this for weeks. I've never seen Annabeth so concerned over _what the Hades am I supposed to wear? _or _Do you think these shoes match this dress?" _He used a girly, high-pitched voice for the final few sentences, coming his invisible hair or pretending to pose and put on makeup. Mr. Chase beckoned me inside.

"Nice to see you too, Mr. Chase. Is Annabeth ready?" I smiled.

"She'll be just a minute," a small voice said. I couldn't help but laugh as I saw two familiar faces sprinting towards me. Bobby and Matthew (don't tell them this, but I still couldn't tell them apart) started to bombard me with questions as usual.

"Are you and Annabeth going to her prom tonight?" "Are you boyfriend and girlfriend?" "Are you going to love each other forever?" They reminded me of Nico when I'd first met him.

"Boys! Stop bugging Percy! Get back here and finish your dinner!" I heard Ms. Chase call from the kitchen. With a wave and a grin, they ran back to their mother, their socked feet slipping on the hardwood floor. "Annabeth! Percy's here! Hurry up, you don't want to be late!" Annabeth's stepmom called upstairs.

"I'm coming already! I think Percy can wait a few more seconds, gods know how many times I've waited on him..." Annabeth's voice echoed down the stairs. A few seconds later, I heard her clacking awkwardly down the stairs, obviously having a little difficulty with the heels she was wearing. She emerged from the stairwell, and had this been one of those cartoons, my jaw would have been on the floor.

Her gray eyes sparkled and her blonde curls shimmered like gold, pulled into some kind of loose hairdo (I'm a guy, sorry for not knowing different girls' hairstyles) that made her look like a princess. Her strapless dress flowed to her knees, a shimmery blend of sea green, sky blue, and teal, and her ankles wobbled just a hair in her silver heels. She wore silver jewelry to match, and her subtle makeup made her face glow.

"Percy!" She ran as best she could to me, and pulled me into a tight hug.

"Annabeth!" I hugged her back, and kissed her on the cheek. We finally broke apart, and the daughter of Athena wasted no time in examining my entire ensemble.

"Gray, Percy? Why are your vest and bowtie gray?" She asked suddenly.

"Well, I figured your dress would be gray... what with Athena and all..." Her small frown morphed into a giant smile.

"My dress is blue because of you, Seaweed Brain! Nailed the whole 'ocean' thing pretty well, huh?" She spun slowly.

"You're much prettier than the ocean," I smiled.

"But how ironic, you wearing Athena's color and me wearing Poseidon's?" I could see the gears turning.

"I guess that just means that even the gods can let things be just for tonight. Now stop thinking, leave that to me for the night."

"If I do that, we'll all de doomed," she laughed. Ms. Chase ran up to us, camera in tow.

"You two look absolutely adorable! Let me get some pictures and I can email these to your mom, Percy." We struck various poses, but eventually Annabeth shooed her stepmother away.

"Enough! We're going to be late! Bye Dad, bye Susan!" She grabbed my hand and yanked the keys to her dad's car off of their hook as we ran out the door. I opened the door for her and helped her in, then hopped into the driver's seat. Probably a bad idea, considering I had no idea where the Hades I was going.

"Your other left, Seaweed Brain!" _SCREECH! _It took about three times as long as it should to get to the gym at Annabeth's school, but at least we got there, right? We walked hand-in-hand into her school, and immediately a swarm of people surrounded us.

"Annabeth! Where were you? We thought you like died or something!" One girl exclaimed.

"I'm fine, Greer. My idiot of a boyfriend got me lost."

"Not lost, temporarily... displaced..." I protested. For the first time, everyone seemed to notice me. Annabeth smiled as she put her hand in mine.

"Let me introduce you to my boyfriend. This is Percy." I waved.

"Wait, Percy's real? Not like some figment of your imagination or your excuse as to why you've turned down every guy in the school?"

"Ha ha ha." Annabeth laughed sarcastically. She turned to me. "Percy, let me introduce you to some of my friends. She motioned to a few different people.

"Nice to meet you guys," We danced together for a bit until a slow song came on. I bowed to Annabeth. "May I have this dance?"

"Of course you can, Seaweed Brain."

Oblivious to the world around us, I tried not to step on her feet as she put her head on my shoulder and I put my arms on her waist.

"Percy?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah Annabeth?"

"I love you,"

"I love you, too."


	5. Family Reunion

Some people are good liars. The Stolls- if they kept at it for awhile- could get you to believe that in actuality, you really _are_ a satyr, but Grover, on the other hand, can't lie to save his life. But being a part of the world that is the Olympians shapes most of us into good liars pretty quickly. Because if you can't logically explain why you read Ancient Greek but not English, or why there's a knife hidden in your sleeve, or why you constantly disappear only to return with a new series of cuts a couple minutes later, you either get blasted for revealing the gods to mortals (kind of an unwritten rule, if you tell someone you don't trust completely) or shipped off to an asylum.

I can count on one hand the mortals I've told: my mom (but that doesn't really count, since she already knew), Rachel Dare, and Paul. But I've had a few close calls. There's only one time I've ever really slipped up, and even then, it wasn't my fault- well, kinda. Still, blame my pesky step-grandparents and my stupid cousins, not me.

It was the week of Thanksgiving of last year. I was out of school on holiday and relishing in the sleeping-in-late, the going-where-I-want-when-I-want, etc. Earlier that day, I'd taken Annabeth ice skating in Central Park before she left to go back to California (she'd been staying in New York, working on Olympus). Cheesy, I know, but girls love that stuff for some reason. Plus she'd never ice skated before, and I could definitely get used to her clinging to me for dear life.

I threw open the door of our apartment, cold and windburned, when I saw them sitting on the couch. I didn't know who they were at first; I mean, if you found an old man and an old woman just sitting on _your_ sofa, you'd probably be concerned too. They were staring wide-eyed at me, and it was all I could do to not stare back. Just as I was about to ask who in Hades they were, my mom walked into the living room, followed closely by Paul. With a small wave, Mom continued into the kitchen (presumably to make something for the guests), and Paul walked up to me, a tight smile on his face.

"Hey Percy. Did you have fun with Annabeth?" he asked through almost gritted teeth.

"Uh... yeah. But why are there two elderly citizens on our sofa?" They seemed pretty offended at being called elderly, but didn't say anything.

"Well, my parents dropped in for a surprise visit all the way from Minnesota. Isn't that just... lovely?" Paul finally turned to the old people, I guess to introduce me.

"Mom and Dad, this is Percy. He's my stepson and goes to Goode." The woman smiled warmly, but the man seemed disapproving. I gave a small wave and attempted to smile back.

"It's nice to meet you. Are you guys staying for Thanksgiving?" The woman nodded.

"We thought that since we haven't really met you; I mean, what with not being able to make the wedding and all-" She glared pointedly at her husband, and surprisingly, he glared right back. "that maybe we could pop in for a visit. And here we are!"

"Why the hell are you half frozen?" Paul's dad (I can't bring myself to call them my grandparents) interjected gruffly.

"Um, I just took my girlfriend skating. She lives in California, so I don't get to see her very often during the school year-"

"Young ladies have no common sense these days. Fallin' for long-haired skaters and ruffians." He glared at me, and I reflexively flipped my hair out of my eyes.

"Oh, ignore him. You must be awfully cold and wet after skating though. Why don't you go dry off?"

"Uh, right on that," I passed by Paul, who pointedly glared at me.

"Let's try to keep this week free of... you know," he whispered. I nodded.

"If only it was that easy," I muttered, more to myself than him, as I trudged back to my room to change.

* * *

A few days had passed, uneventful, until finally Thanksgiving was here. No monsters. No crazy gods asking me to run errands. Not even an IM from Camp. It was kinda weird, but I wasn't about to jinx anything. As much as I love saving the world and all, relaxing- even if only for a week or so- was pretty nice. But, as always, I spoke too soon.

It all started when I was helping my mom cook dinner. I know, bad idea. I can barely make toast without catching something on fire. But this time, I was being extra careful to keep everything burn-free. I'd already set the table with my mom's fancy china- the dishes I hadn't already broken- and actual cloth napkins. I think Mom was just trying to impress Mr. and Mrs. Blofis, but she'd gone absolutely overboard with the food, so no complaints here. There was a giant turkey, heaps of stuffing, cranberries, and rolls, pumpkin pies, and a giant plate of freshly baked blue cookies. It was like dying and going straight to the Isles of the Blest. Anyway, I was trying to differentiate between all the forks (who needs three forks for one meal? I mean, seriously) when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" I shouted, presuming it was a delivery guy or something who wanted to get home. But when I opened the door, I was shocked- almost literally. Before me stood a girl about my age, with choppy black hair and electric-blue eyes. Freckles spotted her face, and her silver parka, black jeans, and tall hunting boots were obviously keeping her warm, even in the cold New York weather. She waved her hand in front of my face.

"Uh, earth to Kelp Head! Come in, Kelp Head. Percy! Hello?" she laughed.

"Thalia! Why... uh, why are you here?" At the mention of my cousin, my mom came running to the door.

"Thalia!" They hugged and my mom invited her in. Soon, we were all sitting on the couch with huge cups of hot chocolate. Thalia had taken off her jacket to reveal a shirt with her new "favorite" band on it, Vampire Weekend (it has nothing to do with vampires nor their teen romances, so she's okay with it).

"Finally got a new shirt, huh Pine Face?" She stuck out her tongue at me and turned to my mom, who seemed kind of worried as to why my cousin .

"Honestly, I'm fine, Mrs. Jackson. I'm sorry I interrupted your dinner."

"No, it's not a problem. We were waiting on Paul to come home anyways." Mom smiled.

"So how've you been?" I asked. "Artemis turn anyone into a jackalope lately?" She laughed.

"No one since she last threatened you. When's the last time I saw you, anyway? Six, seven months ago?"

"Not my fault you choose to galavant around the country hunting monsters. Are you guys in New York right now or something?" Thalia's expression turned stormy.

"Well, Artemis gave everyone temporary leave for the holidays. She refuses to celebrate Christmas, so Thanksgiving is our 'big vacation' for the year. I don't really get tired of the Hunt, but a few of the new girls were missing their families. All the girls whose parents are... well, dead, are staying at some hotel in the city, but I... kinda wanted to spend Thanksgiving with my family," she admitted, as if it was hard to say.

"Well, you've definitely come to the right place," my mom smiled. "You're welcome to stay as long as you'd like. Be warned, though, Paul's parents are in for the week. So no references to our friends in the Empire State, okay?"

"Sounds good to me," Thalia replied. "I just can't believe Percy's been able to survive this long with no spontaneous attacks."

"I'm right here!" I shouted. They laughed and we all went back to the kitchen. Thank gods Thalia was a much better chef than I, so I happily resigned and instead completed the important task of taste-testing.

* * *

"I'm grateful for a delicious meal, and the fact that everyone is here to enjoy it with me," my mom started. We don't exactly 'pray' at my house, so instead, we go around and say what we're grateful for. We all sat around the candle-lit table, hungry and ready to eat.

"I'm grateful that my parents are here and can finally meet my wonderful wife and son," Paul smiled, and turned to his mother, who was frowning slightly.

"Aren't we going to do a traditional prayer?" I vaguely remembered Paul saying he was raised as a strict Catholic. He paled a little, as if he was afraid of being sent to his room.

"Um, Sally, Percy, and I aren't exactly Christian..." Thalia responded. My step-grandpa turned to her sharply.

"Who are you, anyway?" For a fearless lieutenant of Artemis, Thalia looked pretty intimidated. I didn't blame her- Mr. Blofis was almost as scary as Hades himself.

"This is my cousin Thalia. She's... uh, almost sixteen?"

"That's so nice you have your little cousin here. Where are you from, dear?" Mrs. Blofis asked. I could tell Thalia did not at all like being called my 'little cousin', but she responded anyways.

"I, uh, travel a lot. I go to an all-girls... school, so..." She trailed off. Mr. Blofis was still glaring.

"That's no reason to not celebrate a good Christian dinner," he scoffed. Obviously fearing the start of a war, Paul turned to me almost frantically.

"So what are you thankful for, Percy?" I took the hint, and tried to hurry it along so I could eat.

"Um, I'm thankful that one of my favorite cousins-" There was a loud CRASH! and I heard a voice call from the living room:

"WHAT? I thought_ I_ was your favorite cousin! Thanks a lot, Percy!" Who else but Nico di Angelo pulls himself off the floor and strides into the dining room.

"Hope you guys haven't eaten all the pumpkin pie yet, I haven't had any in sixty-eight years," he mentions as he nonchalantly pulls himself a chair in between my step-grandparents. For the first time, he notices Thalia and Mr. and Mrs. Blofis, who are staring at him like he dropped out of the sky (somewhat true, actually).

"Pinecone Face," he nods to her.

"Death Breath," she replies jokingly.

"Perce, who the Hades are the elderly people?" Mr. Blofis looks pretty pissed at being called elderly again, Mrs. Blofis just looks plain confused, and the rest of us are mentally face palming.

"They're my step-grandparents, who are NOT in-the-know about our ancestors from Greece," I whisper loudly.

"Oh, okay," Nico replies. "Pass the rolls please, Mrs. Jackson."

* * *

I guess I'm pretty used to my annoying cousin randomly shadow-traveling to and from my house, as are my parents and Thalia. And I can see why he'd want to be with his only family (and all their food) on Thanksgiving. But Paul's parents were in definite shock.

"How did you even get here? Do you have no manners? Just how old do you think you are?" Mrs. Blofis screamed, obviously having had lost all sense of self-control. Nico looked up calmly, his mouth full of food. He swallowed and was obviously about to tell them off, but I interrupted his tirade.

"Nico," I warned. He glared at me with eyes as dark and deep as Tartarus itself.

"C'mon, it's not like they wouldn't find out eventually," he scoffed. Without waiting for my reply, he turned to yell at them.

Without explanation, Nico was jolted back to his seat. I'll deny it later, but if you looked closely, you could see the lightning as it hit him. I turned to Thalia, who was innocently cutting her turkey, just in time to see her shoot a death glare at Nico. He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Will someone _please_ explain what the HELL is going on here?" Mr. Blofis stood up so fast, he spilled his water all over me. I wasn't thinking; being a demigod hyper-activates your reflexes, so you do things impulsively. I held up my hand and felt a familiar tugging sensation in my gut. The water rose up off my previously ruined pants and channeled back into the pitcher on the table. A simple trick I'd done a million times at camp (surprise surprise, Grover is _extremely_ clumsy), but I didn't realize what I'd done until I saw the faces surrounding me. Thalia was slashing across her neck, Paul had his head in his hands, Nico gave me a look that clearly said 'I told you so,", and my mom looked disappointed but not surprised- she's seen me do enough stupid stuff before to know where this was headed.

"Who- what the hell are you?" Mr. Blofis's voice was suddenly quiet, and he held on to his wife as if shielding her from me.

"I can explain..." I tried to get up, but they shied like horses from fire.

"I'm out," Nico said. He shut his eyes tightly and dark shadow swept out of nowhere and enveloped him (which obviously didn't help my close-to-fainting step-grandparents), but Thalia grabbed his hand and pulled him out before he could travel away.

"You aren't going anywhere, Death Breath."

"They already know, why do I have to be here?"

"'Cuz you're the one who started this in the first place!"

"Guys!" I shouted. They stopped their bickering and looked at me.

"We should explain," I said. I took a deep breath.

"Where should I begin...?"


	6. A Perfect Cover Story (HP Crossover)

**Okay, this story literally goes nowhere. There's no plot. Nothing. Sorry! ****There's** **no Heroes of Olympus plot line in this story. Line break=chapter break**

* * *

"Percy! Percyyyy! Wake up, Seaweed Brain!" I woke with a start, turning my head to the nearest source of light. An image of Annabeth shimmered right above my bedside table.

"Wha...?"

"Percy! I don't have much time! I only have two Drachma and long-distance calls take more time! You should know that. Now WAKE UP!" My girlfriend yelled as loud as she could without waking the rest of my apartment building.

"I'm up, I'm up already! Gods, Annabeth, what would give you the idea to call at one in the morning?"

"Nice to see you too. California is three hours behind New York. It's only ten here. Gods, I must have forgotten. Still, you have to listen to this!" For a usually calm and collected daughter of Athena, Annabeth was as hyper as the Stoll brothers on caffeine.

"Well, it must be pretty important for you to IM me at _one o'clock in the morning!" _I said again.

"Seaweed Brain, listen! So your birthday is coming up in August, right?" She didn't wait for me to reply. "Well, I was up on Olympus trying to think of a good gift I could give you and it turns out a lot of the gods are more grateful to you than they let on. So I talked my mom into getting them to help me get you a _supertotallyawesome _gift! Guess where we're going?" I tried not to groan as I ran through the list of boring architectural places Annabeth wants to take me to and mentally crossed off the ones we've already been to and already almost-destroyed.

"Um, the Parthenon?" I guessed.

"No, though that would be pretty awesome..." She seemed off in her own world for a minute, but quickly returned to her original train of thought. "We're going to London this summer! For the Olympics! Happy early birthday!" My jaw dropped.

"No way! You have got to be kidding. Like, no offense, but I thought your mom was against anything fun. Plus she hates me. How did she even do that?"

"My mom is incredibly fun, Percy. And she only hates you most of the time. She pulled a few strings because I pleaded with her for, like, a really long time. Nike owed her a favor, and she always gets good seats at major sporting events..."

"Oh my gods! This is the coolest birthday gift ever! I can't believe this! Just you and me?"

"Well, you, me, Thalia- Athena got her a temporary break from the Hunters, something about payback for shooting a sacred owl or whatever- and Nico, who Demeter insisted tag along so he wouldn't ruin her mother-daughter time with Persephone this summer. We're going to have so much fun!"

"You know it, Wise Girl. I'm going to celebrate my birthday- in LONDON- with my favorite people in the world! Annabeth, you are the best girlfriend I could ever have. And not just because we're going to London. I love you," I smiled. It was impossible not to smile when you saw her grinning.

"I love you, too. Look- I have the tickets right here!" She held up four tickets for Delta Airlines, from New York City to London, England. A sudden thought made my stomach sink like a stone.

"Wait, Annabeth. You didn't tell me. We're _flying_?"

* * *

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,_

_We have never been introduced, but I am sure you have heard a great deal from Harry about my son Ron._

_As Harry might have told you, the final of the Quidditch World Cup takes place this Monday night, and my husband, Arthur, has just managed to get prime tickets through his connections at the Department of Magical Games and Sports._

_I do hope you will allow us to take Harry to the match, as this really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; Britain hasn't hosted the Cup for thirty years, and tickets are extremely hard to come by. We would of course be glad to have Harry stay for the remainder of the summer holidays, and to see him safely onto the train back to school._

_It would be best for Harry to send us your answer as quickly as possible in the normal way, because the Muggle postman has never delivered to our house, and I am not sure he even knows where it is._

_Hoping to see Harry soon,  
Yours sincerely,_

_Molly Weasley_

Harry couldn't believe it. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to A) see the finals of the Quidditch World Cup and B) escape the Dursleys for the rest of the summer? How could he possibly miss it?

"So- can I go then?" he asked, silently begging and wishing his wizard powers included mind control. Vernon was on the edge of an attack: of _course _he wanted to be rid of the retched boy- for the rest of the holiday no less, but was it worth the price of Harry's sheer misery while staying with his family? Vernon resisted the urge to twitch.

After a long explanation of who the Weasleys were and what Quidditch was, all the while making sure Mr. Dursley didn't flip his lid, the Dursleys grudgingly agreed to let Harry attend.

Harry might have hugged them had he not hated them so much.

...

Harry practically threw up, still reeling from the Portkey travel. In the corner of his eye he could see Ron and Hermione doing the same, though Fred and George, as well as their father, looked unharmed.

"Welcome to London, everyone!" Mr. Weasley announced proudly once everyone had regained their bearings. Harry, who had never himself travelled to London, looked around in awe. As to not alert the Muggles, the Cup was being held a distance outside of London, but Harry could see the skyline and barely make out Big Ben and the London Eye in the distance.

"Normally, the World Cup would be held far out in the middle of the countryside, but the Muggle Olimpiss are being held in the center of London," Mr. Weasley explained. "And it was the perfect opportunity to cover wizard activity with an international Muggle tournament as well."

After a short walk, Harry found himself surrounded by what seemed like miles of tents. Wizards, most looking somewhat ridiculous in mismatched and out-of-style Muggle appealer in a feeble attempt to 'blend in', shouted in hundreds of different languages, trying to be heard over the general roar of the crowd. Peddlers ambled around, selling everything from Irish good luck charms to moving posters of Victor Krum.

"Fred, George, help me with the tent," Mr. Weasley commanded. With a flourish, the twins flicked out a small burlap bundle. Was that the tent all six of them were supposed to stay in? After a few minutes of pitching (and re-pitching) the tent, Mr. Weasley gestured everyone inside.

"No way everyone's going to fit in here. It isn't possible," Hermione remarked as they made their way through the tan-colored tent flaps. Her eyes widened as they came upon a space almost as large as the Dursley's entire ground floor.

"It's not much, but it'll do," Mr. Weasley rounded out the bunch. "Make yourselves at home, children. We've got a Quiditch match to prepare for."

* * *

Flying across the country on my first quest had been bad enough. An almost seven-hour trip was practically unbearable. Everyone was staring at the guy clutching the armrests and trying not to hyperventilate.

At least Thalia was kind of in the same boat as me. We'd stuck Annabeth in the window seat with me in the middle and Thalia as far away from seeing outside. Still, her knuckles were white as well, and every time she even saw a glimpse of a cloud she'd shiver.

The flight attendants seemed particularly nervous about us- they kept asking Annabeth if we were alright, if there was anything they could do for us. I was surprised at how Annabeth continued to nicely decline their offers.

To keep both of us preoccupied, she asked what events we wanted to go see. Naturally, I wanted to watch swimming and diving, and Thalia was totally looking forward to the archery. Annabeth said she wanted to see some fencing, and we wanted to watch the football and gymnastics as well. Plus all the other events we could possibly fit into our schedule.

...

"Thank you for flying with us today as we touch down in London-" the flight attendant was cut short by a loud shout of "YES!" from yours truly. I caught her glare and, embarrassed, quickly sat back down and shut up. It was like being in school all over again.

"As I was saying, we have landed in London. Enjoy the Olympics everyone! Have a safe travel!" I basically sprinted off the plane, followed closely by Thalia and Annabeth, who was the only one to offer the crew an apologetic glance. Something told me we wouldn't be receiving any sympathy from the workers in the future.

Waiting for the luggage took practically forever. Thalia was doing better now that we were securely on the ground, but anything airplane-related was still not my favorite place to be.

"Seaweed Brain, you're going to wear a hole in the floor pacing back and forth. Why don't you, uh, go watch the news over there?" It wasn't hard to tell that Annabeth was tired. Even though it was only seven o'clock in London, it was midnight for me and two in the morning for her. Not wanting to make her mad, I edged away and tried to ignore the newscaster's funny accent as I listened.

"Though more than ample lodging and hotels have been provided for international Olympics-goers, a large group not wanting to pay rent has set up a camp of sorts directly outside the city." The reporter's face was replaced with a picture of an area about the size of Camp Half-Blood, but filled with tents of all shapes and sizes. There were kids about my age waving sticks at each other, and old men dressed in long robe-thingies. I figured they were definitely not from America or Britain. "Officials have yet to comment on whether they will be allowed to stay. We'll be right back after this short break." It was weird seeing the same commercials, but with English accents, but I quickly grew bored and walked back to Annabeth and Thalia.

Annabeth had a small suitcase, while Thalia had only the silver backpack she'd taken as her carry-on. She was holding my duffel and promptly shoved it into my hands.

"Happy birthday, Kelp Face."

"Gee, thanks. I'd get you something awesome for yours, but you don't ever get to have one again," I shot back.

"And that's a bad thing?"

"Guys! C'mon, let's just get out of here. If you guys bicker in the taxi, so help me Zeus..." she left the threat hanging, glaring at both of us. Needless to say, we shut up pretty quick.

"What's the hotel address? I can call to see if they have a shuttle or something," I offered. We stepped outside, Annabeth digging through her bag to find the paper with our reservations.

"Perce! I was looking all over the city for you!" came a voice from behind me. I whirled around, pulling out Riptide in the process. The blade found itself at the neck of Nico Di Angelo. I quickly drew my sword back in but didn't miss the glare he shot me. "Nice to see you too. Now are we heading to the hotel or what?"

"Nico? What the Hades are you doing here?" Thalia, obviously not briefed on the entire trip, asked incredulously.

"I was just stopping by to have tea with the Queen. Why do you think I'm here, Pinecone Face?"

"But how did you-" I couldn't help but ask

"Shadow Travel. Much better than flying, any day. But I'm tired, can we head out?" We all turned to Annabeth, still in pursuit of her paper. After a few more seconds, she pulled it out and began to scan.

"Found it! Okay, says here that it doesn't have a shuttle. Guess we're calling a taxi," she read.

It took me a while to register that the taxis were black- it reminded me just a little too much of the Gray Sisters' cab back home. But after we snagged one, we fell into a half-sleep all the way back to the hotel, all excited for the Games ahead.

* * *

"I can't believe it- how stupid did they assume Muggles really are? Even with all the protective enchantments, there's no way they would've missed huge group of people in strange clothes, waving wands and doing things that couldn't be explained by any Muggle... what's the word- siennz?" Mr. Weasley was just about as angry as Harry had ever seen him.

"Ehrm, could you possibly mean science, Mr. Weasley?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Yes, yes. Syens, that's it. Anyway, now the Ministry has disbanded this camp altogether. We're going to have to move."

"But dad!"

"Blimey, where're we going to stay now? We can't go back home before the Cup's done- no way."

"Yeah- we've gotta watch Krum take the trophy!" Various complaints erupted from the teens. Mr. Weasley waved them away with his hand.

"Now, did I say we're going back home?" So there was hope after all. "There's only one... slight complication," Harry had spoken (for lack of a better word) too soon. "In order to 'blend in' better, as they say, we are staying at a Muggle hotel. You are not to let any of the Muggles see magic of any kind- I've asked your mother to determine punishment for that, in addition to any punishment the Ministry gives you. No magic, magical items, magic talk, or anything at all until we are safely out of range of any Muggles, understood?" For some reason, he was glaring especially pointedly at Fred and George, who feigned surprisingly realistic innocence.

Slight grumbles about "bloody Muggles" and "no magic, no fun" were made under their breaths, but at least nothing was heard by Mr. Weasley. With a wave of his wand, the tent was repacked and everyone was ready to go. The plan was to Apparate into an abandoned warehouse in London and they could be one their way.

Harry had never been a big fan of Apparation, but now the sinking in his stomach was even more prominent. He didn't want to leave this wonderful madness, to go back to the normal (also known as boring) Muggle way of things. At least he had a little more practice with hiding hid wizardness and blending into the rest of the world, as did Hermione. He could only reason how the Weasleys were going to fit in.

His thoughts became a blur as an unseen force tugged at his stomach, the world blurring in front of his eyes.

...

"This is it, everyone! Welcome to our home for the next few weeks." Everyone groaned in relief. Mr. Weasley had gotten the taxi driver utterly lost by shouting out directions, then quickly changing his mind (and, in turn, their course). What had initially been a twenty-minute ride with all of them crammed into a taxi-van had quickly turned into an hour, then an hour and fifteen minutes, and finally an hour and a half. As soon as the doors of the automobile had opened, the wizards had practically stampeded out, paying no mind to the Muggles in their way.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione pretty much ran full-on into a group of Muggles about their own ages, causing both groups to make contact with the floor.

"Ow, what the Hade-hell was that for?" a punk-looking girl asked.

"Sorry 'bout that, mates," Ron said sheepishly, picking himself up off the floor and offering a hand to the seemingly youngest of the group. The goth boy refused the offer, getting up on his own and leaving Ron looking a little awkwardly out of place.

"What was the rush anyways?" he muttered.

"Be nice, Death Breath. It was an accident," the other foreign girl said, dusting herself off. Harry realized suddenly that they all had American accents. The goth boy only grunted in response.

"It was an accident, honest. We're really sorry," Hermione said. Harry nodded. By now, all seven of the teens were on their feet again, and all the luggage was in the right hands.

"It's no problem, Nico's just a bit of a drama king." Everyone laughed except the goth (probably Nico, Harry reasoned).

"Oh, um, let us introduce ourselves. I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Ron Weasley, and Harry, ah, Potter." Harry was incredibly happy that there was no spark of recognition in any of their eyes.

"Nice to meet you- I'm Annabeth Chase."

"Thalia." No last name? But Harry was a little too intimidated by the sparky-eyed girl to ask about it, and he suspected the same of his two companions.

"Nico diAngelo."

"Percy Jackson." Each person shook hands. Harry hadn't really paid Percy notice before, but he was obviously the leader of the little group.

"Are you from America?" Ron asked.

"Yeah. We've never been to England before- have you been to the U.S.?" Annabeth looked like she was analyzing every possible aspect of the three wizards.

"Nope. So are you all in for the... umm... Olim-Olimprick-?"Ron struggled with the word.

"The Olympics? Yeah- can't wait to see it all! What about you guys!"

"Yeah, uh, totally! Can't wait either," Harry replied. There was kind of a lull in the conversation- obviously, neither side knew what to say.

"So... uh, see you guys around!" Percy said a bit awkwardly. Everyone agreed.

"Yeah- see you 'round!" Ron called, and the groups were back on their separate ways.

**Heh... awkward ending much? Sorry bout 'tha, as Hagrid would say. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Parallel Worlds (KC Crossover)

**Here's my Kane Chronicles/Percy Jackson crossover... that I didn't even really start the plot on :\ sorry. As usual- line break = new chapter. **

**Carter:**

Carter here (unfortunately joined by my annoying sister, Sadie- _Ow! Sadie, stop hitting me!)_. I guess there's no break for the world's unluckiest magicians, because we're back with another adventure.

It was technically all Sadie's fault._ (Yes it was, Sadie. It's always your fault.)_

You see, now that Apophis was defeated and there was- for once- no impending disaster we had to stop, everyone at Brooklyn house was seizing the chance to finally get a 'normal' life, or at least as normal as it can get when you live with the Kanes. Felix had joined an ice hockey team and spent pretty much all of his free time at the rink downtown- either that or at the penguin exhibit at the zoo, Cleo still spent hours pouring over her scrolls in the library, we'd finally bought little Shelby an easel for her literally _magic _markers, and Sadie and Walt-and-Anubis were going out almost every night now. I had enrolled in the school where Sadie and most of the kids from Brooklyn House went, and I spent a lot of time with Zia, too.

It was nice, not having to save the world every other day. But I think we jinxed ourselves somehow, because we soon found ourselves saving not only our world, but someone else's, too. Just my luck, right?

For future reference, remind me to never, ever, under any circumstance, go on a double-date again.

I was watching the Lakers game with Khufu on the couch. They were losing and consequently being pelted with pistachios, Khufu's newest favorite snack. I looked down to brush the shells off my pants, and when I looked up, a somewhat miffed Sadie was staring down at me. Her hands were on her hips and her foot was tapping impatiently, as if she was expecting something from me.

"Um, yes?"

"I'm going to Manhattan for the day, so you'll have to cover my classes. Okay? I'll make it up to you eventually."

"What? There's no way you're going into the biggest city in America by yourself, plus I am _not _covering your classes. Zia and I are going out later." She rolled her eyes.

"I'm going with Walt and Anubis, so I won't be all by myself. We're going to the Empire State Building, Central Park, Times Square, everything!"

"And that's totally a reason to skip teaching today,"

"Glad you understand, brother dear. I'll be off," Sadie started towards the door, but I held her back.

"Amos said we weren't supposed to go to Manhattan anyway. What if there're demons or crazy gods who want to kill us?" I tried to reason with her.

"Oh good, I've been looking for some excitement. Nothing Walt, Anubis, and I can't take care of." Sadie still seemed to address her boyfriend as two different people, much to the general confusion of the rest of us.

"I can't let you go there alone, even if you are with your boyfriend. Remember those weird magic signals we kept tracing to Long Island? We need to see what those are before we even think about going to New York City, and Amos said he'll check it out with us as soon as he gets the chance." She seemed to think about that one for a moment, then her face lit up and I knew I was in trouble.

"I have a perfect idea! Why don't we all go? Suspend classes for the rest of the day and put Jaz in charge, and you, Zia, me, Walt, and Anubis can _all _go. We can check out your stupid signals really quickly and then go see the sights! We'll even go to some stupid museums for you if you really want. Please? You know Zia'll love it." I could see Sadie practically pulling a puppy-dog face if I didn't agree.

I sighed, knowing she'd won. "Fine. Lemme call Zia and talk to Jaz." For once, my sister actually hugged me.

"I knew you weren't a total stick in the mud! I'll talk to my boyfriend and set a time. Meet back here in an hour?" For once, Sadie seemed to be thinking ahead and actually planning.

"Sounds like a plan," I replied.

What I'd really just gotten myself into, I had no idea.

* * *

**Percy:**

Finally, my life was back to normal- or as normal as it gets when you're a demigod. I'd been making the most of my first quest-free summer at Camp, and it was amazing how long the summer seemed to stretch when you weren't on the run from monsters every day.

And then the car pulled up.

Luckily (or unluckily), I'd been tasked with feeding Peleus that day, so I could see it speeding down the dirt road. I waited for it to pass like the few other cars that came down this road, and it did. It sped along for a few more feet before I heard the shrill screech of brakes. Now in reverse, the car passed by me again. And stopped right in front of Camp.

I sprinted to the border, curious and more than a little nervous. Fingering Riptide in my pocket, I hoped that maybe it was someone's parent, or a lost mortal. Anything but a group of monsters. We had a ton of new demigods, but most were barely trained. I prayed the magical boundaries would hold them at bay until we could assemble a group to attack them.

To my surprise, four kids about my age exited the car. I could sense automatically that they weren't monsters... but that they didn't seem like normal mortals either. Maybe they were demigods?

All of them looked too old to be unclaimed. There were two guys and two girls. The driver was a burly African-American guy with a buzz cut, black clothes, and a ton of rings and chains. He looked calm, like he stopped in the middle of abandoned roads all the time. His eyes were dark and deep, the likes of which I had only seen on Nico Di Angelo and Hades himself. I wondered briefly if Nico was going to have an older brother (not age-wise, of course, but you know what I mean).

A girl, probably the youngest of the group by the looks of it, hopped out of the passenger's seat. She reminded me vaguely of Thalia: her carmel-colored hair was streaked with purple, and she looked perfectly capable of stomping on someone in her black leather combat boots. She looked bored and vaguely annoyed, her blue eyes rolling at the guy getting out of the back seat behind her.

This guy had dark, wildly curly hair that matched his brown eyes and dark tan skin. He seemed the most interested of the group, scanning his surroundings as if looking for something, though he also seemed to be arguing with combat-boots-girl. If anyone was a satyr, it was definitely this guy.

The apparent argument was broken up by the final girl, who had a vaguely Middle-Eastern-Egyptian-y appearance. Her shiny black hair hung about midway between her face and shoulders, and she wore a simple white dress. Obviously accustomed to the other two's bickering, she literally stepped in the middle of the two and pushed them away from each other.

They made no attempt to enter Camp, however, which was weird. I decided to leave the border, hiding along the treeline, so I could hear their conversation.

"So there's nothing here. Problem solved, Carter is as paranoid as ever. Now let's head into Manhattan," combat-boots-girl had her arms crossed, and I could hear a twinge of a British accent as she flung the car door open and hopped inside.

"There could be a huge pit of demons just waiting to attack us, Sadie. We have to check it out before we sight-see- you of all people should know that," the curly-haired guy seemed pretty annoyed as he yanked the girl- Sadie- back out.

"Yeah, because there are oh-so-many places an army of demons could hide out around here. This is a strawberry farm, Carter. I really don't think demons are smart enough to make a freaking farm into a hidden base. Maybe you were wrong when you sensed the 'super-strong magic signals' here. What a waste of time- I could be looking out from the top of the Empire State Building by now!" Sadie exclaimed.

I was really confused at this point. They seemed accustomed to monsters (or demons, as they called them) attacking them, but they were apparently unaware that they were looking at Camp Half-Blood, not a regular old strawberry farm. Carter had apparently "sensed" magic signals coming from here? He couldn't possibly be a satyr- they'd be inside the borders otherwise. Maybe a son of Hecate? I'd never heard of sensing magic before. But then again, Sadie was impatient to go to the top of the Empire State. No unclaimed demigod could possibly know about that.

So who the Hades were these kids?

I was interrupted from my train of thought when Carter and Sadie started shouting at each other again, calling each other some names I probably shouldn't repeat.

"_Enough!_" I saw the other girl shout over the other two. "We aren't going to accomplish anything if you two keep bickering. Let's look around a bit and then we have the rest of the day off. Amos is going to kill us- namely me- if we go into Manhattan, which he specifically forbade us from visiting, without addressing these signals. So let's split up- I'll go, erm, that way; Sadie, take that side, and Carter can go the other way." She pointed out each direction, and I noted that Carter and Sadie were sent to complete opposite sides of the area.

"I can wait here. Make sure nothing attacks." The other guy spoke for the first time, and no one seemed to want to argue with him. They split off, and I realized with a start that they were all walking towards the border.

With a gulp, I dashed back to the Big House, carefully making sure I wasn't seen as I re-entered Camp. I had no idea what to do- I didn't want to seem paranoid by gathering up the entire Camp, but what if these kids really did pose a threat to the demigods? Chiron wasn't on the porch, in his office, or in the rec room. Where the Hades was that centaur? A memory of a "quick visit to the Party Ponies, Vegas chapter" flooded into my mind. I didn't know which was worse; being potentially attacked, or attempting to control the chaos caused by the rowdiest creatures known to man.

Who else could I ask to help? I was walking down the steps when I literally bumped into the answer. Unfortunately, this also caused Annabeth to spill all the diagrams and blueprints she'd been carrying.

"Seaweed Brain! These are important!" I could tell she wasn't really that mad (thank gods), but I hastily picked them all up and shoved them back into her arms.

"Sorry, I'm just... uh, concerned. Did you see those weird kids prowling around the border?" I gave her the briefest explanation possible and I could already see the storm clouds brewing behind her eyes.

"We should go check it out- did you tell Chiron?"

"He's in Vegas, remember?" She cursed.

"I forgot. Well, I guess it's just you and me- think the two of us can take on four big baddies?"

"If you've got my back, then those kids are toast," I laughed. She pulled her knife out of her pocket (why it was there, I didn't feel like asking) and set her papers down. I uncapped Riptide.

We walked to the border. With an exchanged glance and a nod, we stepped outside the boundary together.

To our surprise, three of the kid (Carter, Sadie, and the other girl whose name I didn't know) were already gathered, staring at us as we became visible. I saw the other guy over by the road, leaning against the car.

Sadie rummaged through her large purse, I could see the bulky guy twisted his many rings in over in the distance, and Carter and the other girl braced as if ready to attack. There was an awkward pause as each group seemed to glare each other down. Finally, Sadie stepped forward, hand extended.

"Sadie Kane, world savior and protector of the House of Life. Nice to meet you too- I do hope you won't attack us."

* * *

**Sadie:**

_"Sadie Kane, world savior and protector of the House of Life. Nice to meet you too- I do hope you won't attack us."_

To be truly honest, I was pretty shocked when two kids my age appeared out of thin air. They definitely looked intimidating, holding out weapons that I knew weren't playthings.

On the left, there was a guy (if I didn't already have two gorgeous boyfriends, I would definitely call him hot) with black shaggy hair and sharp green eyes. The other was a gorgeous girl with curly blonde hair and narrowed eyes the color of a storm about to break. Both were very athletic-looking and tan.

They seemed confused by what I'd just said (I would expect that kind of reaction from normal non-magicians, but something told me these kids weren't exactly normal...) [Why yes, Carter, maybe it just was my psychic senses. Your sarcasm isn't appreciated.]

Neither of them bothered to shake the hand I extended, and I withdrew it a little awkwardly.

"House of Life? What the Hades is that?" I chose not to ask about the girl's odd curse word (I, too, have gotten pretty creative at times).

"Wait, wait. You guys can use magic- appearing from nowhere and the like- but you don't know what the House of Life is? Even demons would know about it." Carter seemed very suspicious, and for once, I didn't blame his paranoia. [Don't hit me like that- you are paranoid. Just because it paid off this one time-].

"Demons? Magic? ...Are you guys half-bloods or not?" The guy still hadn't lowered his sharp-looking sword. This time, Zia stepped forward.

"Half-bloods? Is that some kind of insult?" She'd seen the odd looks Carter and I received as siblings, and it seemed to be one of the few things that made her tick. The sun turned brighter, harsher, and a wave of heat set in. Someone needed to calm her down before I started to melt.

"Wha- no! Of course not. It's just another word for... well, I'm a half-blood, and so is Annabeth here." Why wouldn't he want to tell us the other word? Was he hiding something important? Annabeth glared at him, and the guy seemed to register that telling us her name was a mistake.

"Nice going, Seaweed Brain," she muttered. I swallowed my laugh. Seaweed Brain? What kind of a nickname is that?

"Okay, okay. How about we start over? I'm Carter Kane, this is Zia Rashid, crazy girl over there is my sister, Sadie Kane. The guy back at the car is Walt-and- uh, nevermind." Of course, Carter wasn't about to announce that Anubis the Egyptian god was with us as well. They definitely seemed suspicious of us. "Could we get your names?" They exchanged glances, and Annabeth gave a slight nod.

"I'm Percy Jackson and this is Annabeth Chase. Why are you guys here anyways? Something about magic signals?" How did he know that? "Oh, uh... I was kinda watching you guys as you pulled up." Annabeth gave him a glare once again, and I made a mental note to get her to give me some glare lessons. Percy seemed pretty used to it, though.

"Yeah. We sensed something strange around here and needed to check it out. We were trying to make sure it wasn't anything that would want to kill us. But it was just you guys, and hopefully, you won't run us through with the swords, right?" I tried to sound convincing. Percy only rolled his eyes.

"Well, sure, but if you know how to sense magic and all, wouldn't you know what this place is? Wouldn't you be able to see it?" Annabeth seemed more curious than intimidating now; I could practically see the individual gears turning in her mind as she attempted to fit together the pieces of the puzzle, gesturing behind her to the farmhouse and strawberry fields.

"What do you-" We all looked behind them once again, and suddenly, the image shimmered and changed. The house, that huge pine tree (it had seemed a little out of place from the start), and most of the fields were still there, but how could I possibly have missed something like this? There were tons of buildings, a lake, and at least seventy or so kids running around. I saw a horse with wings (a pegasus? no way), two kids sword fighting, and a girl with what appeared to be shaving cream on her head chasing a guy with curly brown hair, among many other things. How were we just now seeing this?

"Wha- what is this place?" Carter breathed.

"You really haven't been here before?" Percy asked, still unconvinced for some reason. We all shook our heads.

"In that case, welcome to Camp Half-Blood. If you guys are who I think you are... well, just follow Annabeth and me. You think it's okay to let them in?" The last question was directed at Annabeth, who nodded a little bit reluctantly.

Percy grinned, and I realized that when they weren't trying to kill me, they seemed really nice.

"Okay, we'll take you to the Big House first. Our director is going to want to meet you guys."


End file.
